Crossing The East Sea
by Starlight1
Summary: Hitoshi Shinsou has just graduated from UA and joined the Tokyo Intelligence Directorate as a covert operative. His first assignment takes him to North Korea. (Note: My fics were written before Shinso's reappearance in the manga, before we knew the limits of his powers, so the powers I gave him don't match well with canon. Readers can therefore consider my trilogy to be an AU).
1. (PART 1 THE DIRECTORATE) The Invitation

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 **~ C.R.O.S.S.I.N.G ~ T.H.E ~ E.A.S.T ~ S.E.A ~**

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 ** **P.A.R.T. O.N.E****

 **T.H.E D.I.R.E.C.T.O.R.A.T.E**

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 **1 THE INVITATION**

The evening sun was shining in through the tall glass windows of Yuuei Academy as Hitoshi Shinsou made his way down the carpeted corridor, a pile of books in his arms. The mid-year examinations were coming, and students everywhere were beginning to feel the pressure, especially those in their final year.

Shinsou was with Ayumi, a girl from General Studies, and they were heading toward the library. In an attempt to appear chivalrous, he had offered to carry her books for her, in addition to his own, and the pile in his arms was beginning to feel rather cumbersome. His own math textbook was on top, and he was staring at it and wondering how he was going to handle all the calculus problems inside, when he heard someone calling his name.

"Shinsou! A word with you, please."

Shinsou turned around. Shouta Aizawa was standing nearby, tall and forbidding, the usual tired expression on his face.

"Aizawa-sensei," said Shinsou, automatically. Ayumi gave a small squeak of fright, because Aizawa always made her nervous. "I'll go first, see you later," she whispered, and rapidly disappeared down the corridor, forgetting to take her books from him.

Shinsou frowned. He wondered what the teacher wanted. He hoped it wasn't going to take too long, especially as the books were beginning to feel heavier by the minute.

"There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a while, Shinsou," said Aizawa, looking speculatively at him.

Shinsou said nothing. He had gotten angry with another student the previous week, and had brainwashed him by calling out to him from a distance so that he wouldn't be recognised. He had then made the student strip and run naked around the school corridors, singing at the top of his voice. No one knew Shinsou had done it, because he had first instructed the student to hide in the toilet for half an hour before venturing out and commencing the performance. Shinsou had been in the middle of a class when the commotion broke out, so it didn't occur to anyone that he had been responsible.

Even so, Aizawa was usually quite sharp, and Shinsou couldn't put it past him to guess the truth. He looked at the teacher, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible.

"What about?" he said, casually.

"You'll be graduating soon, Shinsou," said Aizawa directly, "What are you planning to do after that?"

Shinsou looked at him in surprise. Most of the students in the hero classes had received nominations from pro heroes, and it was the norm every year that the majority accepted job offers from these various hero agencies. Besides, it was only the middle of the year; there was still the hurdle of the final examinations six months later, and it seemed rather early to be discussing career prospects.

"Apply for a hero agency, I suppose," he said, vaguely.

"No other options?" said Aizawa, observing him carefully.

"Well, it's still early," said Shinsou, evasively. He shifted the books slightly, to balance their weight more evenly on both arms.

"Not that early," said Aizawa, "You should put more thought into it. I've talked to you about this before. Your Quirk isn't like most. The more well known you become, the harder it'll be for you to use it. Once people get wise to the way your Quirk works, they're not going to respond to you. Are you going to wear a different disguise every time you go on patrol?"

"I presume you have something to suggest?" said Shinsou. He hoped that Aizawa would notice all the books he was carrying, and end the conversation soon.

"Put those books on the ground," said Aizawa, "This will take a while."

Shinsou placed the books on the floor, and then looked at Aizawa, perplexed.

"I've mentioned doing undercover work to you, before," Aizawa reminded him.

"Yes," Shinsou said, noncommittally.

"It would make more sense, taking a job where you'd have to be in disguise, routinely," Aizawa continued.

"I told you, I'd consider it," said Shinsou, not sounding too enthusiastic. "I suppose you have a specific place in mind?"

"I do," agreed Aizawa, "Have you heard of the Tokyo Intelligence Directorate?"

"It sounds familiar," said Shinsou, not wanting to admit that he'd never heard of it, "what do they do?"

"It's our national intelligence agency," said Aizawa, "it takes care of Japan's national security."

Somehow, his words triggered something in Shinsou's memory.

"There have been rumours going around that you might be leaving," he said slowly, although he doubted that Aizawa was going to share his own career plans with a student.

Aizawa looked at him for one long moment.

"There's some truth in that," he finally said, "however, don't let it go any further. I've been here at Yuuei for a while, and after some years, it's time to move on. I'll still be mentoring people, to some extent, in the new position, but the scope of the work will be different."

Shinsou looked surprised that Aizawa was telling him all this.

"I've been talking to Fujiwara, the Director-General of the Directorate," continued Aizawa, "I mentioned you to him, and he's quite interested in your Quirk. He thinks it suitable for intelligence work. He asked me to extend an invitation to you to apply to the Directorate, after you graduate."

"You've been talking to him?" said Shinsou, "So … is that where you're going? The Directorate?"

Aizawa nodded.

"What's attracting you to the job there?" asked Shinsou, suddenly looking intently at him, "What exactly do they do?"

"They look after the national security of the country," answered Aizawa, "they monitor anything that might pose a threat to Japan – military force, terrorism, economic power, energy security, even disease or natural disasters. The scope is wide-ranging, and keeps changing. There are a lot of people working there, and one need not necessarily be a hero to qualify – scientists, data analysts, and so on. In your case, you're more suited to be a covert operative – a hero licence would be a definite plus if you were to apply – and you'd mostly be gathering intelligence. Something very easy for you, with your Quirk."

"And you'd be in that, too, I suppose," said Shinsou, "Covert operations?"

"Yes," said Aizawa calmly, "but in a more supervisory role. I'd probably not go out in the field so often, as a new recruit like you would, perhaps just once in a while."

"Go out in the field?" said Shinsou, puzzled.

"That's Directorate jargon," said Aizawa, "it means going out on an assignment, or a mission."

He paused, looking intently at Shinsou, then continued.

"I've known Fujiwara for a long time. He's been trying to persuade me to join for years, and he said that he didn't get to me early enough – I'd already found other things to do. That's why he pressed me to ask you early – before someone else gets hold of you."

Shinsou was looking at Aizawa thoughtfully, trying to digest all the information. "Gathering intelligence, huh."

"Not just that," said Aizawa, "There'll be a big physical element to it too. You're likely to encounter plenty of villains in the process, and you're going to have to know how to fight as much as you will in a hero agency. They'll train you, and the training will be thorough and tough."

He brought out several sheets of paper, and handed them to Shinsou.

"Here are the application forms. You can apply online as well, of course. The Director-General said that you can apply right now, without waiting for the end of the school year. They'll call you over for an interview and give you some psychological tests, and they'll then get your final term results from the school once they've been released, and notify you if your application has been successful."

"So, I assume you'd advise me to go for it," said Shinsou, looking at the application forms.

"Well, I'm advocating something that I'm going in for, myself," Aizawa pointed out, "and there'll be an intellectual component to working there, as well. You'd have to read up and understand things. Your mind is agile enough for the challenge, I would say. It would be good for you to put it to more productive use, rather than thinking up ways of getting even with objectionable fellow students."

Shinsou looked sharply at Aizawa, but the latter had an unreadable expression on his face.

"That's all I have to say," said the teacher, "Think about it, Shinsou. You have plenty of time to think now. There's no harm applying, and also applying to wherever else appeals to you, such as a hero agency. Once the exams are over, you can begin evaluating your options more seriously."

Shinsou nodded slowly, looking again at the forms in his hand. The Director-General had been smart enough to have Aizawa pass him something tangible, he thought, so that he would be reminded of the invitation to apply. If he had just been told to apply online, he would probably have forgotten about it within a day.

"One last thing," said Aizawa, as Shinsou bent down and picked his books up again, "Fujiwara said to tell you that you can join a hero agency, and be just a promising hero, always watching the rankings and popularity polls; or you can forget about all that, join the Directorate, and be an exceptional undercover hero. You won't get as much recognition, but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're really good at what you do."

These words were ringing in Shinsou's ears as the tall hero turned and walked off. He slipped the forms into one of the books, and proceeded to the library to look for Ayumi. He didn't get much work done in the end, though. He was staring at the forms on the table most of the time, thinking about what Aizawa had said.

Several days later, he was still thinking about it. He checked the Directorate's website, and methodically went through each page. Finally, he realised that the exams were almost upon him, and he still hadn't managed to get any studying done.

"What the heck," he thought, "no point thinking about it any more. Just apply, and forget about it till after the exams. If I get in, I can always give it a try. If I don't like it, I'll just leave, and apply for a hero agency."

He filled up the online application form, and after checking through it carefully, clicked the [submit] button. The application forms that Aizawa had given him had become rather dog-eared in the meantime, and he eventually threw them away.

He was finally able to get into the mood for studying after that. The examinations arrived, and as they progressed and his other hero training activities absorbed him, he became preoccupied with other matters, and soon forgot all about his conversation with Aizawa, and the Tokyo Intelligence Directorate.

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 **NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR**

This is the first story in a set of three about Shinsou and his life as a covert operative after his graduation from Yuuei, but it was the last for me to write. I'd written the trilogy in reverse order – first Mindbender, then The Sword of Amaterasu, and now Crossing The East Sea. I must say that this last one was the hardest of the three to write, mainly due to fatigue … I started the first fanfic in August 2017, so in less than a year I've researched and written three book-length stories. I'm so happy that I've managed to complete all of it! And I intend to take a long break after this.

But it has been great working with Shinsou's character, and I must say that I think his Quirk is incredibly powerful. He can actually do things that people like Midoriya and Bakugou could never do, and the nature of his Quirk is wonderful for formulating more complex plots that involve thinking and wisdom rather than brute force. I'm glad to say that in this trilogy I do feel I've managed to let him fulfil his dream to "become a greater hero than all of you".

I have actually been waiting for Shinsou to re-appear in the manga – Horikoshi said "end of this year or early next year", but it's coming to May and he still hasn't shown up. For this last fanfic I would have liked to know what sort of combat skill he picked up while in Yuuei, and whether he really got into the hero class in the end. I don't want to wait too long before posting this fanfic, though, so I am going to assume he did get into one of the hero classes, and that he did master some combat skill as a result, but this is replaced by other skills which he picked up once he joined the Directorate.

It is humbling to write a story that takes place in a country like North Korea, but I hope that this will also give readers some idea of the type of life that the people there go through. Yeonha was named after the South Korean figure skater Kim Yuna, of whom I'm a big fan, and Kaneshiro after the actor Takeshi Kaneshiro (and he is just as handsome).

I'd like to thank fellow writer Flying Porkchop for giving me some help with the Korean honorifics in the story. The honorifics ended up being rather confusing, because some names were in Japanese and some in Korean, so in the end I decided to just use Japanese honorifics for the Japanese names, and Korean ones for the Korean names.

This fanfic is dedicated to my old friend Hirofumi Tanabe, who hails from Niigata, and whom I met so many years ago when we were studying in Reading, UK.

Starlight

April 2018


	2. The Supervisors

**2 THE SUPERVISORS**

The Tokyo Intelligence Directorate was an imposing building, located in the heart of the city. It was a solid-looking and massive structure, twenty storeys high. Shinsou spent a few minutes looking at it, before entering and going to the second floor, where the general office was.

He presently found himself in a room with several other new recruits. The Head of Recruitment spoke briefly to them, saying that most of them were general recruits who would go through a year's basic training before the decision would be made as to whether they were competent enough to function as covert operatives; otherwise, they would be posted to other sections. Each of them had already been assigned to a supervisor who would oversee their training. A few of them, however, had already been recruited with a particular assignment in mind, and these would be given customised training instead. They would find out who they were once they had met their supervisors.

He then distributed slips of paper to the recruits with the names of their supervisors on it. Shinsou looked at his. It said, "Seijiro Nakajima, room 10-15".

He was a bit disappointed. He had been hoping to be assigned to Aizawa, who had left Yuuei several months earlier to take up his new post at the Directorate. Shinsou knew, of course, that his chances of getting Aizawa were slim, since there were so many people working there, but even so ...

He left the general office with the other recruits. There were seven of them, and they had looked at each other, but had not spoken much. He took the elevator to the tenth floor. When he got out, who should he meet along the corridor, but Aizawa.

"I'd heard that you got in," said Aizawa, after they had exchanged greetings.

"I thought that I might get you as my supervisor," said Shinsou, "but I've got a Seijiro Nakajima, instead."

"Well, you're in luck, then," said Aizawa, "I must admit that I haven't spoken to him yet, only passed him along the corridor a few times, but I've heard that he used to be one of the best agents the Directorate has ever had."

"Used to be?" said Shinsou, sceptically.

"When he used to go out in the field regularly," explained Aizawa, "He's older now, over fifty, and has taken on a more supervisory role. He doesn't look as fit as he must have been in the past, but I expect you should still be able to learn a lot from him."

Fortified with this information, Shinsou eventually took his leave of Aizawa and continued down the corridor, looking for room 15.

He had to knock several times before he heard a muffled voice say, "Come in." The first thing that hit him when he opened the door was the strong smell of whiskey.

The office was a small one, which seemed to make the whiskey fumes even more overpowering. Nakajima was slumped at his desk, and Shinsou took one look at him and decided that Aizawa must have been mistaken. His supervisor was a large man with a craggy face, and he reeked of alcohol; there was an empty bottle of whiskey sitting on the desk, and the glass reclining near his hand was half full. A row of unopened whiskey bottles on the shelf behind him indicated that his inebriated sojourn was far from over.

He looked blearily at Shinsou, as if trying to recall who he was. Shinsou was about to introduce himself, when the barrel-bodied man spoke.

"You're Hitoshi Shinsou," he said with an effort, his speech slightly slurred, "I've been expecting you."

Whatever hopes Shinsou had entertained that some mistake had been made, and that the intoxicated individual slouched in front of him would tell him that he had come to the wrong room, were dashed.

Nakajima was regarding Shinsou dazedly; his eyes appeared to have difficulty focusing.

"Yes, I requested for you, Shinsou," he said thickly, "when I heard about your Quirk, I realised that you were just what I needed. You've got five months to learn Korean and karate perfectly, and then you're coming to North Korea with me."

"What?" Shinsou stared at him in disbelief. He hadn't meant to be rude, but just when things looked as if they couldn't possibly get worse, they had. "Go to North Korea – with _you_?"

"Correct," said Nakajima, absently.

"Learn perfect Korean in five months?" said Shinsou, trying to get things clear.

"Correct," said Nakajima, again.

"Impossible," said Shinsou firmly, "I've heard that recruits here normally learn a foreign language for two years before being proficient enough to use it out in the field."

"It's possible," said Nakajima, waving a hand vaguely at him, "We'll postpone some of your other basic training, and give you more time for Korean language lessons."

"And I thought that recruits here get to try out different martial arts before deciding which suits them," Shinsou argued.

"No, no," said Nakajima, wagging a finger at him, "This is important because your Quirk isn't a combat one. I've chosen for you. Karate. The lessons have all been arranged, already."

"But a skill like that takes years to master!" protested Shinsou, "I can't attain any sort of reasonable proficiency in five months!"

"Go up to the eighteenth floor, room six," said Nakajima mechanically, not taking any notice of him, "Kaneshiro's there. He'll oversee your training."

"Who?" said Shinsou, blankly.

"Takeyoshi Kaneshiro," said Nakajima, nodding impatiently, "junior supervisor." He waved at Shinsou to leave.

Shinsou, however, didn't move.

"Why are we going to North Korea?" he asked.

"What?" said Nakajima, looking at him foggily.

"Why are we going to North Korea," repeated Shinsou.

"I'll tell you another time," said Nakajima dismissively, picking his glass up and downing its contents, "It's too early to tell you now."

"I'd prefer to know now," said Shinsou firmly, staring balefully at his drunken supervisor.

Nakajima was beginning to look irritated. "I just said – " His face went blank.

Shinsou's expression was cold.

"Tell me why we're going to North Korea," he ordered.

"There's a ship called the Shiramine Maru operated by _Chongryon_ which we suspect is smuggling weapons and technology from Japan into North Korea," said Nakajima, staring blankly ahead, "We want to collect evidence of this. If it's true, the Japanese government will probably ban the ship."

" _Chongryon_?" said Shinsou, puzzled, "What's that?"

" _Chae Ilbon Chosŏnin Ch'ongryŏnhaphoe,"_ said Nakajima, succinctly.

"What?" said Shinsou sharply, "Explain that in Japanese."

"The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan," Nakajima translated, "it's one of the organisations for Zainichi Koreans here in Japan."

"Zainichi Koreans?" said Shinsou, baffled.

"Long-term Korean residents in Japan," said Nakajima, nodding with conviction.

Shinsou gave up.

"Why did you choose me for this?" he asked.

"Your brainwashing Quirk is ideal for what I want to do," answered Nakajima, "We need to pose as members of the ship's crew. I need you to brainwash the Chongryon officials into employing us to work on the ship. You can brainwash the Chongryon officials on board into revealing where the weapons are hidden. And if they become suspicious of us for any reason, you can brainwash them into leaving us alone."

Shinsou decided that he needn't find out any more. It was one thing to learn rudimentary Korean, but if he was brainwashing Koreans he needed to speak the language well enough to issue instructions in Korean, and to become that fluent in five months was impossible for him, especially since he wasn't particularly gifted at learning languages. Moreover, it was madness to think of going out in the field with a supervisor who was an alcoholic, especially when you were a brand new recruit. When the field was a country like North Korea, it was sheer suicide.

He left Nakajima in his brainwashed state, and went up to the eighteenth floor to look for the junior supervisor.

Room six, thankfully, appeared normal and devoid of anything like alcohol fumes. It was bright and airy with large windows, much bigger than the office on the tenth floor, and two thirds of it consisted of empty space which Shinsou instinctively guessed might be used for combat training, or sparring. The other one third consisted of several desks and chairs. There was only one individual seated at one of the desks.

Shinsou went up to the individual.

"Kaneshiro-san?" he said.

"Yes," said the man.

Shinsou's first impression of Kaneshiro was that he was too young and good-looking to be a supervisor. He couldn't have been more than thirty, probably in his late twenties. He was tall and extremely handsome, with long, black hair that fell past his shoulders. He was wearing a slim-fitting black top and pants, but if one put robes on him, he could have passed off as the dashing hero in one of those period martial arts dramas.

The second thing Shinsou noticed about Kaneshiro was that he didn't smile much. He was serious and stern, and when Shinsou bowed and introduced himself, he extended a hand instead of returning the bow.

"Well met, Shinsou," he said in a businesslike tone, giving Shinsou's hand a firm shake, "I have here your training timetable. We can go through it now, and I'll let you know what is expected of you."

"Well, yes, Kaneshiro-san," Shinsou said firmly, "before we go into that, I want to request for a change of supervisor."

Kaneshiro raised his eyebrows.

"I just saw Nakajima," explained Shinsou, "He was dead drunk. I don't think he's in his right mind, at all."

"I am afraid a change of supervisor will not be possible," said Kaneshiro matter-of-factly, adding blandly, "and brainwashing anyone, even the Director-General, into assigning you a new one, won't work either. Once they wake from their brainwashed states, they will simply rescind the order, not to mention place you under disciplinary action for brainwashing your superiors."

"But he's a drunkard!" said Shinsou indignantly, "How can the Directorate employ someone like that?"

"So long as he successfully completes his missions, there is no reason for the Directorate not to employ him," Kaneshiro said calmly.

"He told me that I'll be going to North Korea with him," protested Shinsou, "It's suicidal to follow anyone like that to a country like North Korea! And he told me to learn Korean fluently and to be proficient in karate in five months! It's impossible!"

"Why is it impossible?" asked Kaneshiro, looking keenly at Shinsou.

"I might be able to pick up basic Korean within that time frame, perhaps," said Shinsou, "but it won't be good enough for me to use my Quirk, will it? And that would only be if I was going to work on it full-time, but I've got to complete the rest of my basic training as well at the same time, don't I?"

"We've postponed some of your training till after your assignment," said Kaneshiro, consulting the timetable in his hand, "Defensive and evasive driving techniques, for example, you can do later. And you'll only look at firearms for now, for your weapons training. You'll be having more frequent sessions in karate and Korean."

"I'm not agreeable to it," said Shinsou abruptly, "and I'll go and see the Director-General about it, if I have to."

"Out of the question," said Kaneshiro, flatly. He stood in front of Shinsou, looking intently at him.

"Your main supervisor doesn't matter much, when it comes to your basic training," he said, "I will be overseeing your progress, and your various instructors will be conducting the training. I can assure you that they are all extremely competent."

"Well, I'm being short-changed," said Shinsou obstinately, "The other recruits get a year's training before they're sent on assignments. And they get supervisors who aren't glued to a whiskey bottle all the time. Those studying languages take it for two years, and martial arts takes a lifetime to master! Not only that, but the other recruits will get to try out a range of different martial arts before deciding which suits them best. I'm having karate forced on me – "

"Hitoshi Shinsou," said Kaneshiro, interrupting him, "why did you become a hero?"

Shinsou frowned. He felt that Kaneshiro was trying to change the subject.

"Why does anyone become a hero?" he said, evasively.

Kaneshiro folded his arms, and waited.

Shinsou scowled.

"Because," he said, with a hint of anger in his voice, "People have told me all my life that my Quirk is a villain's Quirk, and I wanted to prove them wrong."

He stopped short. He didn't know why he had said that – he normally wouldn't have mentioned to anyone how he had been constantly misjudged for most of his life because of his Quirk, much less to a stranger.

"Why did you join the Directorate?" asked Kaneshiro, quietly.

"One of my teachers at Yuuei recommended it as being suitable for my Quirk," said Shinsou, annoyed. "After seeing Nakajima I'm having second thoughts, though."

Kaneshiro nodded slowly.

"Nakajima used to be one of the Directorate's greats, you know," he said.

"So I heard," said Shinsou dismissively, "but that was obviously a long time ago. He's gone to seed now. I think that I might do better in a hero agency, after all."

"We're all human and can fall along the way," said Kaneshiro piously, "He might surprise you in the end … you might find out that there's still much you can learn from him. Besides, as I said, I'll be the one overseeing most of your training."

Shinsou frowned. Kaneshiro looked at him.

"Do you think that I'm not up to training you well?" he said, "Let's fight. We won't fight Quirk to Quirk, because neither of us has combat Quirks. Let's fight physical combat."

He proceeded to set a timer to indicate the start of their match, and placed it on the table. They then went over to the open space at the centre of the room, and faced each other. The junior supervisor had a multi-thonged whip in his hand, and Shinsou eyed it warily. He had acquired a combat skill while in Yuuei, of course, and he worked out mentally how he was going to tackle his opponent.

The timer went off, and before Shinsou could react, Kaneshiro had moved. Shinsou had never seen anyone move so fast; he dodged Shinsou's attack, and at the same time lifted his whip with lightning speed and brought it down on his new trainee. In a flash the thongs had coiled themselves around Shinsou, and the more he struggled, the tighter they became.

Kaneshiro stood before him, holding the whip, and regarding him calmly.

"Hitoshi Shinsou," he said coolly, "Make your choice now. The Directorate, or leave and choose a hero agency."

Shinsou hesitated. He stared angrily at Kaneshiro, but remained silent.

Kaneshiro removed the whip thongs from his new trainee, and looked carefully at him.

"You said that you became a hero because you wanted to prove people wrong about you having a villain's Quirk," he said, "What you didn't mention is that you have the heart of a hero, and that this heart cries out to make itself known. Am I right?"

The room seemed very quiet, all of a sudden. Shinsou was staring at the junior supervisor, his face pale.

"Yes," he said, slowly.

"You won't leave the Directorate and join a hero agency," stated Kaneshiro, looking intently at him, "because you're up to the challenge here. You want to prove yourself ... I can see it in your eyes. There are hundreds of heroes in hero agencies. Can they do what you can do here in the Directorate? Why be like the masses when your unique calling is here?"

Shinsou returned his gaze. The room continued to be very quiet; one could have heard a pin drop. Finally, he spoke.

"I'll stay," he said, abruptly.

Kaneshiro smiled for the first time.

"Good," he said. He wound the whip up neatly, and tucked it away at his belt. He then handed Shinsou a copy of his timetable. "Let's get down to business, then."

Shinsou shook his head slightly, as if to clear his mind, and bent over the timetable.

"First, I'll go through your standard training," said Kaneshiro, "You'll be learning how to use a range of weapons, but we'll start with firearms first. You'll also learn about different types of explosives, including how to make improvised explosive devices.

"At the Support Lab there's a basic package too, including various types of spy cameras and how to install them. Then there will be sessions to build up your mental strength, especially as you'll be going out on assignment sooner than the other recruits. You'll be given tasks where your cognitive ability in stressful situations will be tested ..."

Shinsou was still scrutinizing the timetable.

"Next, there's training for your assignment in North Korea," continued Kaneshiro, "Two hours of Korean language lessons, three times a week. I'm fluent in Korean, and I'll be speaking to you in Korean from the third month onwards. Let's see how far you've progressed, by then."

Shinsou privately doubted that he'd be able to do more than string a few ungrammatical sentences in Korean together even after two months, but he nodded with a resigned expression on his face.

"And karate lessons," Kaneshiro went on, "You'll have a private class with the instructor at first, three times a week, and then we'll see how fast you progress. You'll sometimes join the other classes because you need to spar with different types of partners in order to become proficient. I'll be sparring with you, as well."

"I already have a combat skill," said Shinsou, rather sullenly, "Why would I need to use a martial art in North Korea?"

Kaneshiro shrugged.

"Nakajima-san has ordered it," he said, "He's known to have an uncanny ability to guess what is required of a mission, and I would trust his judgement on this."

"Is that his Quirk?" enquired Shinsou.

"No," said Kaneshiro, "His Quirk is one of the main reasons why he was such a successful agent. He can make himself invisible at will, and not only that, he can make other objects or people invisible if he wants, by touching them."

Shinsou was amazed. He realised that when it came to stealth work, this was an extremely powerful Quirk. No wonder Nakajima had done well as an agent, he thought. He wondered what had happened to bring him to his current inebriated state.

"Anyway," Kaneshiro was saying, "Nakajima's wanting you to learn karate may not necessarily be about defence. They learn taekwondo, over there in Korea. Who knows who you'll be dealing with, over there? They may challenge you to a duel in martial arts, and sometimes it will be to earn their respect, more than anything."

He noticed Shinsou's expression, and added, "Learning karate will be a profitable thing, whether you use it in North Korea or not. I will give you two months to master the basics, and then I am going to spar with you. Show me how good you can become, by then."

Shinsou still felt a bit annoyed, but said nothing.

"Now, disguises," Kaneshiro went on, "The covert operatives here all know how to disguise themselves, but in your case it's vital that you're good at it, because the use of your Quirk depends on people not knowing who you are. You're going to have two hours' acting lessons three times a week, including practising putting on different disguises and makeup."

"Makeup?" said Shinsou, aghast.

"Yes, makeup," said Kaneshiro, staring coldly at him, "What's wrong with that?"

"That's for girls!" protested Shinsou, looking revolted.

There was a pregnant pause, and then Kaneshiro looked reprovingly at Shinsou.

"It's all in your mind," he said sternly, "In the movie business, male actors put on makeup all the time. Don't let your prejudices hold you back. Don't think like a student any more. When you have a job to do, do whatever it takes to get it done. You can do it if you want to, and do it perfectly."

Shinsou was looking mutinous.

"When you need to do something, just do whatever you have to, to get it right," said Kaneshiro, fixing a steely gaze on his new recruit, "If you're roughing it out and sleeping on the ground, just do it, and don't complain. When you go out in the field, you have a job to do. Never turn down an opportunity to learn anything. You never know when it might help you. You have to be up to doing the job more than a hundred percent, or you might not survive. I want you to have this mindset. If you have to learn Korean or Chinese, just do it. Imagine yourself in Korea, struggling because you didn't manage to master the language."

He stopped, and looked expectantly at Shinsou. The latter returned his stare for a few moments, but then finally nodded.

"Aim high and aim for the stars, young Shinsou," said Kaneshiro sternly, "There's a fire within you to prove yourself, isn't there? That you're better than all the other heroes? Set yourself a high standard, even if no one else sees or knows. _You_ know it. I expect this from you. Don't disappoint me."

"Yes, Kaneshiro-san," said Shinsou. He was now looking rather subdued.

"I'll now bring you to see your various instructors," said Kaneshiro, after looking at Shinsou for a moment, "You have five months. Try to become proficient enough not to be killed when you go out in the field."

Shinsou took one last look at the timetable, before keeping it away.

How am I going to master all this in five months, he thought.

Kaneshiro seemed to be reading his mind. As they made their way down the corridor toward the elevator, he asked Shinsou if he was renting a place in Tokyo.

"I'm still looking for accommodation nearer the Directorate," Shinsou answered, "I'm currently bunking in with a friend."

"Don't bother," said Kaneshiro, "On the top floor of the Directorate there are some rooms with beds for staff working overnight on urgent projects. You can bunk in there for the next few months, if you want. It'll save you the commute. New recruits like you, who only have a few months to prepare for an assignment, usually end up doing this."

Shinsou was surprised to hear that such an arrangement was possible. He felt heartened, at any rate, to hear that others had been in his situation before. He wanted to ask whether those recruits had survived their assignments.

"What sort of urgent projects?" he asked curiously, wondering if Kaneshiro would tell him.

"Usually forging of documents by the Support staff," replied Kaneshiro, "There might suddenly be a case where we need to smuggle someone in or out of a country on short notice, and if the covert operative doesn't have a convenient Quirk to get him out – teleporting, or invisibility, or phasing – he'll have to do it the traditional way. He'll need all the correct documents – passport, certificates, and so on. You have to make the documents look really genuine, such as a bit creased or aged, or in a certain country only a certain type of ink or stamp or paper might be used; that takes a lot of time and skill to produce, so the Support staff will work on it for hours. You often can't just disguise the person … you need the correct accessories to carry the disguise off."

Shinsou was intrigued.

They had taken the elevator down to the fourth floor. Kaneshiro glanced at him, as they made their way out.

"Any other questions?" he asked.

"Yes," Shinsou said, suddenly recalling his conversation with Nakajima, "What are Zainichi Koreans?"

Kaneshiro paused for a moment, before replying.

"That takes a while to explain," he said, "why do you want to know about them?"

"Nakajima mentioned them to me," said Shinsou.

Kaneshiro had stopped walking. He stood there, looking at Shinsou.

"Well, you know that at one time, Japan colonized Korea, don't you?" he said.

Shinsou, who had not paid much attention during history lessons, only vaguely knew, but he nodded.

"Korea was considered part of Japan at the time, and the people living there were considered Japanese citizens," Kaneshiro continued, "As a result, many Koreans came over to Japan to live and work.

"But after the Second World War, Japan had to relinquish sovereignty over Korea. By that time, there were Koreans who had been living here in Japan for generations. They had settled here, and many of them were more used to speaking Japanese than Korean. And yet, after the war, the Japanese government didn't take these Koreans in as Japanese citizens. They were to register themselves as Korean citizens in the new Korea, although they continued living in Japan. They therefore have the status of foreigners, and are referred to as Zainichi Koreans."

"I see," said Shinsou. He hesitated, and then asked, "and what is _Chongryon_?"

Kaneshiro looked quizzically at Shinsou.

"Has Nakajima already briefed you on your assignment?" he queried.

"Yes," said Shinsou, casually.

"That's unusual," said Kaneshiro, looking rather suspiciously at Shinsou, "we normally only brief the recruits about their assignments much later." From his expression Shinsou knew that he suspected that he had brainwashed Nakajima. He tried to keep his face expressionless.

"Well, some years later the Korean War took place," said Kaneshiro, now looking thoughtfully at Shinsou, "You've heard about that, haven't you? And the country was split into North and South Korea. The Koreans living in Japan had to decide whether they wanted to be affiliated with the North or with the South. There are two organisations in Japan representing these two groups – Mindan for those who'd registered with the South, and Chongryon for the North."

"I wouldn't have thought anyone in their right mind would have registered with the North," remarked Shinsou.

Kaneshiro looked at him, his expression inscrutable.

"In those days, right after the war, no one knew with certainty what the government in the North would turn out to be like," he said, "and at the beginning, Japan had actually developed the North more and given it better infrastructure than the South, because it was closer to China and Manchuria whom they were trading with. North Korea also had a more welcoming policy for Koreans living in Japan at that time than South Korea. Besides, there were Koreans in Japan who originally came from the North, and still had relatives there. It was quite understandable then, that they decided to register with the North."

Shinsou felt rebuked, for some reason. He decided that he had better read up more about the topic on his own before making more critical comments.

"What are they like, Chongryon?" he asked.

"Chongryon basically sees itself as a North Korean organization here in Japan," answered Kaneshiro, "When it was first established, its objective wasn't to help the Koreans here settle down to life in Japan; instead its aim was the repatriation of all Koreans here in Japan back to a unified Korea.

"Chongryon therefore subscribes to the ideology of the North Korean government. They oppose the integration of their Korean members into Japanese society. For example, they discourage their members from marrying Japanese citizens. They run businesses here in Japan, and the North Korean government also funds them, and so they are able to run their own schools here which teach the North Korean syllabus, and they have their own university here. Some of their officials are even members of North Korea's parliament."

"I see," said Shinsou. He was trying to assimilate all the data. However, since Kaneshiro seemed willing to impart information, he decided to ask one more question.

"What is there to know about this ship run by Chongryon, the _Shiramine_?" he said, "Nakajima only told me that it is suspected to be smuggling weapons."

"Chongryon claims that the ship is for leisure purposes for their members," said Kaneshiro, "It is supposed to bring passengers for a cruise around the Sea of Japan over a period of two days. However, we suspect that the ship is actually going to North Korea. It switches off its transponder once it goes out to sea, so that it can't be tracked. It is probably bringing Zainichi Koreans to North Korea to visit their families, but what we are more concerned about is whether other things like weapons and technology are also being smuggled to North Korea."

Shinsou nodded, and then remained quiet, thinking. He felt that he had obtained enough information for the time being, and decided not to ask any more questions until he had gotten all the current data sorted out in his mind.

"Anything else?" asked Kaneshiro, after a silence of a few minutes.

"Yes," Shinsou suddenly remembered something else. He felt that he really wanted to know the answer to this. "Kaneshiro-san, what is your Quirk?"

Kaneshiro looked surprised.

"As I said, like yours, mine is a non-combat Quirk," he said, "I have a form of clairvoyance. I can touch something, and know what is inside. I can touch the outside of a building, for example, and know if there are hostages inside. I can touch the outside wall of a room, and know if there are explosives inside. I can touch a box, and guess its contents."

He paused, and looked thoughtfully at Shinsou.

"I can also touch a person," he said quietly, "and know what that person's character is, what he's made of, inside."

Shinsou looked at him, startled.

No wonder the junior supervisor had wanted to shake hands; he had wanted to size his new recruit up. What had he seen, Shinsou wondered. He looked sharply at Kaneshiro, but the handsome face was impassive.

They continued down the corridor, and eventually reached their first stop, the Support Laboratory. The entrance consisted of a set of tall, white doors, and Kaneshiro pulled one open. "After you," he said politely, letting Shinsou enter first. But the supervisor's impassive expression then disappeared, and there was a knowing smile on his face which Shinsou didn't see, as he followed the new recruit through the doors, and into the cavernous hall of the Support Lab.


	3. The Directorate

**3 THE DIRECTORATE**

Shinsou would later always look back on those first five months at the Directorate as the busiest in his life. Kaneshiro showed him around the building on the first day, and introduced him to his instructors. On the second day, training began in earnest.

His weapons instructor was a tall, dark-skinned woman called Iridium, plain-spoken and down to earth.

"You'll be learning a whole range of weapons, Shinsou," she informed him, "you may not always be able to use your Quirk when you're out in the field. Consider if some villain sets a robot army on you, or there are drones coming after you, or the villain is a mute. You might or might not be armed, but if there are any weapons lying around, you had better know how to pick them up and use them, and not only that, but use them with lethal effect. It'll take a while, especially as we've cut down on your sessions till after your first assignment, but you're eventually going to go through everything – firearms, knives, swords, even improvised weapons. I expect you to be deadly when I'm done with you. And you're going to be constantly practising and training for the rest of your life, or you'll lose your edge."

She told him that it was mandatory to be extremely fit as well, and after assessing his standard, gave him a list of exercises to do every day. He started on firearms after that, learning about different types, about safety and how to load and fire a gun, and then there was, of course, shooting practice. He enjoyed this, and wished that he could spend more time on it, but at the moment he only had one session per week.

In the case of explosives, he found himself in a class with the other trainees. The class started off with theory about various types of explosive materials, and would later go on to more practical aspects, such as how to assemble and also defuse different types of bombs.

Then there were the Korean language classes. Shinsou thought the arrangement for these rather peculiar. He was in a class together with two other recruits, who were taking one hour of Korean three times a week while he was taking two. This meant that they would disappear after an hour while he stayed on for another.

The other two recruits were called Tomonaga and Noriyuki, and Shinsou at first thought that they were brothers because they looked alike, except for the colour of their skin. Tomonaga had orange skin and Noriyuki green. Both of them looked habitually deadpan. They were surprised to find out that Shinsou was taking two hours of Korean instead of one, and immediately guessed that he was one of those who had already been given an assignment.

"No need to say more, you're going to Korea soon if you're learning that much Korean," said Tomonaga, "Noriyuki and me, we haven't been told anything, except that we're to take these classes."

"Over a period of two years," added Noriyuki.

"And it must be North Korea for you, since we're not really having any issues with the South," continued Tomonaga, "so that means you're likely to end up being based there, while Noriyuki and I will be monitoring Chongryon over here."

"How's that?" asked Shinsou, surprised.

"There are two groups here in the Directorate keeping an eye on North Korea," explained Noriyuki, "One group actually goes over to North Korea to gather intelligence, while the other stays in Japan and monitors Chongryon's activities."

"So, that means you're a bit like Hoshide," remarked Tomonaga, "I saw her carrying her bags up to the top floor."

Kanako Hoshide was the only female recruit among the seven. Shinsou had also seen her that morning in one of the top floor rooms of the Directorate. He had taken Kaneshiro's advice, and had gone back to Ayumi's apartment the previous night and packed his belongings, and placed them in a locker on the top floor when he came to work the next day. Hoshide had apparently also been given the same advice, for he saw her stuffing clothes into one of the lockers.

"I've been told that I'm going to China," she had confided, looking upset, when he had asked her why she was staying in the top floor room, "in four months."

She had looked even more upset when Shinsou told her that he had five months to prepare for North Korea.

"My mother is of Chinese descent," she said, "I don't know whether that's why they assigned me to this. But she doesn't speak Chinese, only Japanese. At least you have five months. I've got to learn Chinese in four months, I don't know how I'm going to do it!"

She was also attending the same classes as the other recruits, and some of the others rather unkindly called her "Horseface Hoshide" because she had a longish face, which made her look rather like a horse. Shinsou, however, refrained from doing so. Although he felt sorry for her, he found some comfort in knowing that someone else was in an even worse situation than him.

His Korean language teacher was a South Korean called Kim Hee Jung. Shinsou wasn't too impressed by him. He had a perpetually mournful expression on his face, and he dolefully told the three recruits that they were to call him "seon-saeng-nim" which meant "teacher".

The first lesson consisted entirely of learning Hangul, the Korean alphabet. Kim seon-saeng-nim wasn't a very inspiring teacher, and had a rather monotonous voice. Noriyuki nodded off after half an hour. Shinsou frowned. If he was going to learn enough Korean for the assignment, it didn't look as though the classes were going to be enough. He was going to have to do something on his own about it.

Then there were the disguise classes. The Disguises Section consisted of several rooms under Support, and when Shinsou turned up for his first lesson, he looked around for Makeover Girl, but there was only an old man sitting in a corner of the room.

"Hitoshi Shinsou," he said, hobbling forward to greet Shinsou, "I'm going to see you regularly for the next few years, and you're going to be my star pupil."

Shinsou blinked.

"I was told to look for Makeover Girl," he said.

"I'm Makeover Girl," said the old man, suddenly speaking in a woman's voice. "Watch."

He straightened up, and began to remove his makeup and accessories, and in five minutes the old man had disappeared, and a rather plain-looking, teenage girl with blonde hair, partially dyed pink and green, stood there.

"You're Makeover Girl?" said Shinsou, disbelievingly.

"Do I look young?" she said coyly, "Thank you. I'm actually forty, in case you're interested."

She sat down on a nearby table, and began applying eyeliner to her eyes. Shinsou later found out that the pink and green hair paired with dramatic eye makeup and bright pink lipstick was her favourite look.

"Welcome to your disguise class," she purred, looking at him, "here's what I tell every agent : when you're out in the field, a lot of the people you meet are probably going to try to describe you later. So, you'll want a disguise where as many things as possible in that description will be wrong … your height, weight, hair colour, moles, piercing, tattoos, scars, wrinkles, and so on. I'll teach you to disguise yourself, even teach you how to change genders and ethnicity."

She picked up a bag that was sitting next to her on the table.

"Now, this is a standard disguise kit," she said in a businesslike tone, displaying its contents to him, "The agents bring it along on assignments. It contains a set of makeup, and you'll put whatever else you normally like using inside, like wigs, prosthetics or pigments. What you include will depend on your particular assignment, either that or you'll place your favourite disguise (you'll eventually have one) inside on standby. For the movies, the makeup artists take hours to change an actor's appearance. Our agents here are expected to do it in five minutes, with these disguise kits."

She slid off the table, and went over to a dressing table nearby. Taking something from it, she turned around and looked at Shinsou.

"We're going to spend a fortune on you, Hitoshi Shinsou, because you're going to use lots of this," she announced, "so you'd better make it worth our while."

"This" was a tray full of makeup. Seeing Shinsou's ambivalent expression, Makeover Girl picked up some jars of the cosmetics, and waved them in front of his face.

"This stuff is made in our labs, and is very, very expensive," she informed him sternly, "you're not going to find anything like this outside the Directorate. We've had scientists spending years here perfecting it. Consider yourself lucky; it wasn't so good in the beginning – it would start to go, especially if you were sweating in the hot afternoon sun. But we've now made it long-lasting, good up to a week. It won't even wash off with water, you'll have to use a special makeup remover to get it off. It looks very natural too, no one will even be able to tell that you're wearing makeup."

Shinsou was still looking doubtful.

"I'm not sure I'm going to be very good at this," he said, "I can't act."

"You're going to see me every other day, for as long as it takes you to be good at it," said Makeover Girl calmly, "Those were my instructions. Now, I'm going to put this on you, and you'll see how different I can make you look."

She applied the makeup on him, and gave him a black wig to conceal his purple hair, and contact lenses.

"How's that?" she cooed, looking pleased at her handiwork, "Don't you look a lot more handsome now? I've made you look less tired. You look like one of those J-Pop idols." She went off into a peal of laughter.

Shinsou wasn't thrilled at all. For one thing, the contact lenses felt extremely uncomfortable.

"I thought the idea of a disguise was to make you nondescript, so that no one would look at you twice," he said, chagrined.

"It is," said Makeover Girl, fluttering her eyelashes and patting him on the head, "But I just wanted to make your first makeover memorable. Stop scowling like that! It's dreadful, you're spoiling the look! Now, you'll eventually have to learn how to act the part, but we'll start off slow. At every session I'll put on a different disguise myself and you'll be able to see that there are so many types possible, and then you'll practise putting your own on, with the makeup."

.

.

The first few weeks passed like a blur. Shinsou planned to put in extra time every night to study Korean, but he was so exhausted from Iridium's physical training and the karate classes that he would fall asleep after a minute and only wake up the next morning.

After two weeks, he found that he had become more accustomed to the routine, and he then began to make his own plans.

He decided that the Korean language and karate lessons weren't adequate. He was spending all his weekends putting extra practice into them, but he knew it still wasn't enough. He sought out Kaneshiro for help, but the latter merely said sternly that it would have to do, and that other recruits had managed on such a programme before. There was a certain look in his supervisor's eye that gave Shinsou the impression that he was testing him, and wanted to see what he would do if left to his own devices.

For martial arts, agents could go any time they liked to the training hall and put in some extra hours, if no one else was there using the equipment. Shinsou went every night, and if all the training bags had been taken, it was quite easy for him to brainwash someone into releasing their bag to him.

After a while he realised that if he did this frequently, people would start guessing what he was doing; and so, he asked Makeover Girl for permission to use a different disguise every evening. She was thrilled, and initially helped him with the makeup.

"You see?" she said, beaming and patting him on the head, "you're starting to find out that with this Quirk of yours, disguises are useful, aren't they? Make sure you fasten your wig properly so that it won't fall off, since you'll be hitting and kicking things."

The extra karate night practice still wasn't enough. Shinsou wanted extra sparring practice, but it was difficult finding a partner. He wanted someone who could correct his mistakes, so he couldn't ask his classmates; and he didn't know any of the senior agents that well. His karate instructor didn't have the time to spare, and he already saw Shinsou three times a week. One had to spar with different types of people in order to learn different techniques. Shinsou thought of looking for some other karate school in Tokyo and brainwashing the people there into sparring with him on week nights, but this wouldn't work, because the brainwashed person would wake up after the first punch.

He got onto the internet, and after some searching, found an online discussion forum about martial arts. The members were very enthusiastic, and some of them met during week nights at a gymnasium in Shinagawa ward to spar. Shinsou managed to contact one of them, who told him that all were welcome, even beginners; and he decided to give himself another two weeks' practice at the Directorate before going down to have a look.

Next, he turned his attention to his Korean language lessons. Kim seon-saeng-nim had very fixed ideas about teaching, and became impatient if Shinsou brought up too many questions. Finally, Shinsou waited till Tomonaga and Noriyuki had left, and then brainwashed the teacher and got him to answer the questions. He did this for half an hour before waking the teacher from his brainwashed state and letting the lesson proceed as usual; and Teacher Kim, not being very observant, never noticed that time always seemed to pass extremely fast during the second hour of lessons.

Shinsou knew that he couldn't rely on Teacher Kim's lessons. He had to become fluent in Korean, or he wouldn't be able to understand anything complex when he was in North Korea, and more importantly, he wouldn't be able to brainwash anyone. And there was no way he was going to master Korean unless he was forced to speak it.

He went online again. Besides the Zainichi Koreans, there must be some South Koreans also working or studying in Tokyo, and Shinsou knew that a lot of South Koreans were Christians. After a while, he found several churches in Tokyo that the South Koreans frequented. The one that caught his eye was called "Korean New Life Church". The website was fairly welcoming; one line went, _"All are welcome to join us! Non-Christians can just come and make friends and enjoy the food and music in the church basement after each service!"_

Shinsou decided to check the church out. He decided it was another good occasion to test out Makeover Girl's disguises, so he put on a simple one which still allowed him to look his age, applying makeup to change his face, and putting on a black wig.

The church was a small building located not too far from the metro, and he stood outside for a while, looking at it. There were a few church members standing just inside the entrance, welcoming people who were entering the gates, and after a while one of these spotted Shinsou, and came out to talk to him.

"I'm Kim Minjun," he said in Japanese, after speaking a bit of Korean and then realising that Shinsou hadn't understood a word. He was a plump man with a round head. He beamed at Shinsou, "Have you come here to find Jesus?"

Shinsou decided to be candid about his objectives from the start, since it would spare him the pain of sitting through the church services.

"I actually came because I'm learning Korean and want to find someone to practise it with," he said truthfully.

"That's fine!" said Kim Minjun, smiling and shaking Shinsou's hand enthusiastically, "My family runs the drinks stall in the basement canteen every Sunday morning. You can sit with us, and talk to us!"

He proceeded to lead Shinsou down to the church basement. It was incredibly crowded there; people were standing around, talking and eating, and children were running up and down, laughing and screaming. There were a number of food stalls present, selling what Shinsou assumed to be traditional Korean food.

Kim Minjun led Shinsou to a stall in a corner that was selling coffee and tea and a selection of traditional Korean teas and juices. His wife, daughter and son were there, busily serving drinks to church members.

Kim Minjun's wife was called Younghee, but the children had names from the Bible. His ten-year old son was called Isaac, and twelve-year old daughter Miriam.

Kim Minjun explained that he had been working in Japan for several years, but his family had only joined him a few months ago, and as a result their Japanese was poor. Younghee, his wife, was making progress, but the children were struggling in a Japanese school. When Isaac and Miriam were introduced to Shinsou, their faces immediately brightened. They went behind the stall and brought their Japanese schoolbooks out, and Shinsou realised that they wanted him to help them with their homework.

Younghee was now left alone to man the drinks stall, so Kim Minjun stayed to help her while Shinsou sat at a table nearby with the children and examined the homework. He could see what mistakes they had made, but he had to explain it to them in Korean, and given his current fluency that was virtually impossible. He finally ended up correcting all the homework without explaining the errors.

Once he had finished with the children's homework, their mother wanted them to practise speaking Japanese to him, but they giggled and refused. He left after a while, feeling overwhelmed. He had been listening to the constant chatter of Korean being spoken all around him for the past two hours, and he realised how far he had to go if he was going to hold even a simple conversation in Korean.

.

.

The next day, Shinsou decided to approach the Support Section for help. His lessons at the Support Lab were with the other recruits, and they had been enjoyable, so far. They had gone through various types of spy cameras, including looking at how these could be hidden in cigarette packets, key fobs or perfume atomisers, and also various ways in which agents could communicate. The more interesting methods included shaving a pet and tattooing a message onto it, and then passing the animal on once the hair had grown back, or reducing a page of text photographically to the size of a full stop and then glueing it onto a page in a magazine and mailing it to their contact. Even Kanako Hoshide, who usually wore an expression as if she was going to be executed the next day, would sometimes break into a smile during the classes.

Their lesson that day was on drones and using them for reconnaissance. The instructor, who went by the code name Fermion, announced that the next lesson would be on night vision devices, and then dismissed the class.

Shinsou waited till the others had left, and then approached Fermion.

"Construct a Korean-Japanese language translator for you?" said Fermion, after Shinsou had described what he needed, "What you're asking for is too difficult for anyone in Support to do!"

Shinsou decided that his instructor wasn't being particularly helpful. He brainwashed the man.

"Isn't there anyone in the entire Support Lab who can create this for me?" he asked.

"Your best bet would be the Oersted Twins," said Fermion, "They look like small robots. Magnetron is gold in colour and Klystron silver. They're relatively new, graduated from Yuuei Support a year ago, but they seem to be handling most of the more difficult service requests now. However, if they agree to do it, you'll probably have to wait a long time because there are so many requests already in the queue."

Shinsou managed to get a service request form from Fermion. Because he was only a recruit and still under probation, he would have to get Kaneshiro to approve and sign the form first. He filled the form up, and then handed it to Kaneshiro.

"A translator?" said the junior supervisor, looking at Shinsou's detailed description. "You want a console that can listen to a conversation in Korean and translate it into Japanese for you?"

"Yes," said Shinsou, cautiously.

"Who's going to provide the conversation?" asked Kaneshiro, looking curiously at him.

"I've managed to make a couple of Korean friends," said Shinsou, vaguely.

"You want voice recognition so that you can label the people who are taking part in the conversation, and filter out noise and other people in the background who aren't in the conversation," said Kaneshiro, reading from the service request.

Shinsou nodded.

"You want to be able to record the conversations down and play them back later in order to review them, and you want to be able to key in your responses in Japanese and have them translated into Korean," added Kaneshiro. He looked at Shinsou. "This will probably take Support months to construct, if they can do it at all."

"Well, I spoke to Fermion, and he thought that they could give it a try," said Shinsou, untruthfully. He was wondering whether to brainwash Kaneshiro into signing the form if the latter refused to, but he suspected that the consequences might be dire because there was a high chance his supervisor would find out.

Kaneshiro looked sharply at Shinsou, but finally put his signature on the request form. However, he refused to mark it as urgent, even though Shinsou pointed out that he needed it soon if he wanted to prepare for North Korea.

"It would be unfair to others," Kaneshiro said maddeningly, "There are more urgent requests there, and you probably don't really need this device. I'll leave it to your ingenuity to get it done fast, if they can do it at all."

Shinsou left the room with a slightly disgruntled expression on his face. Kaneshiro's stern expression dissolved once his trainee had disappeared out the door, however, and he chuckled to himself in amusement.

Shinsou's next task was to find the Oersted Twins. He managed to locate Magnetron in a small workshop at one end of the Support Lab.

The room was full of clutter. There was a pile of service requests in a tray on the front counter, and several more pinned to a notice board on the wall. There were gadgets and tools and equipment strewn all around the work tables, and Shinsou had the impression that Magnetron wasn't a very organised person.

He was a cute little robot, no more than four feet high, and bowed low when Shinsou introduced himself.

Shinsou handed his service request form to him and started explaining what he wanted, but he had gotten no further than a few sentences, when Magnetron interrupted him.

"Shinsou-sama," he chirped, "Magnetron has designed fake cigarettes that can be smoked just like real ones! But there won't be any hazard to your health! Would you like to try them?"

"Fake cigarettes?" said Shinsou, taken aback.

Magnetron went over to a shelf and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. He then lit one to demonstrate, and took a pull on it. He blew out a fairly realistic-looking cloud of smoke.

"The smoke is odourless, though," said Shinsou, after trying one cigarette, with interest.

Magnetron scratched his head.

"True," he said, looking perturbed, "I will have to put further work into it."

He pressed the packet of odourless cigarettes into Shinsou's hand, saying that he could keep it. Shinsou was going to bring him back to the topic of the service request, when Magnetron's face lit up again.

"Shinsou-sama!" he exclaimed, "Magnetron has also invented a video camera that flies and can be controlled remotely! Let me show it to you!"

The video camera was tiny, about the size of a bumblebee, and Shinsou had to admit that it might probably be useful if one was tailing a suspect.

"It moves quietly," announced Magnetron, fiddling with the remote control buttons as the camera hovered silently up and down, "and the video quality is not bad, though it can be improved. It is better used at night when the suspect will not notice it. For daytime use, Magnetron is planning to disguise it as a large insect – "

"That's interesting, but I have a class to rush off to, soon," said Shinsou, trying not to sound impatient, "Maybe you can show this to me another time. About the service request – "

He got no further, because a drone suddenly flew in the window, startling him. It was carrying a bag of tools, and landed on the table.

"Aha!" squeaked Magnetron, looking excited, "Shinsou-sama might be interested in this, too! Magnetron has named the drone 'Errand Runner'. It has been programmed to deliver all sorts of things … messages, small items. This bag, for example, came from my sister Klystron in the lab downstairs. You can even use it to get your lunch. Shinsou-sama just needs to call someone at the canteen and make his order, and send Errand over with the money."

Shinsou, glancing around at the clutter in the room, realised that Magnetron wasn't only working on the service requests. He was indulging in a part-time hobby of inventing his own gadgets.

He was wondering whether to brainwash the robot into building the Korean translator, but that wouldn't be practical because the project might take weeks, and there was no way Magnetron's brainwashed state would last that long. Besides, no matter how cute and childlike Magnetron was, he undoubtedly wouldn't be thrilled if he discovered that he had been brainwashed, and Shinsou needed to stay in the robot's good books because he would inevitably need his help for other things in the future.

The drone suddenly rose into the air and flew across the room, and Shinsou stepped aside and accidentally knocked a folder off a table onto the floor, so that the papers inside fell out.

"Oh, sorry," he said, bending down and picking them up.

"Let Magnetron do that!" squeaked Magnetron, suddenly darting forward and snatching the papers away. But it was too late; Shinsou had seen a photo of what looked like the stealth drone he had seen in a magazine article before, and the words "CLASSIFIED" stamped in large, bold letters on some of the papers.

"Those are classified materials," he said, startled, "Where did you get – ?"

"Shinsou-sama," Magnetron said pleadingly, in his piping voice, "promise me you will not tell anyone you saw these. _Especially Klystron_."

Shinsou glanced at Magnetron's drone, which had landed on a table in a corner of the workshop. Its shape resembled the stealth drone. Shinsou also noticed some printouts lying nearby which looked like radar traces. His first thought was that Magnetron had somehow constructed a stealth drone and disguised it as a harmless one that ran errands, and that he was now trying to test how effective his design was.

Shinsou looked around at the clutter in the room. He realised that Magnetron, now working in an intelligence organisation, had been unable to resist the temptation of accessing classified technology, something he could never have done back in Yuuei. The documents were probably from the Directorate's confidential archives, papers brought back by covert operatives from their assignments, either that or Magnetron had found ways to use the computer system here to hack into secure systems elsewhere to access the material. And he must have been having a field day looking at all the amazing advanced technology, and thinking of ways in which he could apply it.

Magnetron was looking both guilty and agitated.

"You'll have to be careful, Magnetron," warned Shinsou, concerned, "You could get into big trouble – "

"I know," said Magnetron, in a small voice, "but Shinsou-sama, the technology is mind-boggling! Magnetron will be able to do wonderful things for the Directorate with it!"

He and Shinsou looked at each other for one long moment, and then the little robot suddenly grinned in a conspiratorial manner.

"Let Magnetron have a look at your service request again, Shinsou-sama," he chirped, holding one metallic golden hand out, "He will see to it that it is done in record time."

Shinsou eventually left the Support Lab with a considerable sense of achievement. Sometimes, he thought, it pays to have a bit of luck, as well as a brilliant Support specialist with the tendency to illegally fiddle with classified and unauthorized data.


	4. Ryoko

**4 RYOKO**

Shinsou had given himself two weeks before meeting up with the martial arts enthusiasts' group, and that fortnight passed before he knew it. Now that he was working as a covert operative he had become more cautious about appearing as his real self, and so he duly turned up at the gymnasium wearing the same disguise that he had worn to the Korean church, and armed with his white karate _gi_ , or uniform.

The group was friendly, and most of them were into karate, but there were several exponents from other disciplines too : aikido, judo, and so on. Shinsou had been hoping that there might be some who did taekwondo, because this was one of the main Korean martial arts, and the one he was most likely to encounter in North Korea; but there were none. Still, the composition of the group changed every night, so there was still hope that one might turn up. And he was still at the beginner's stage; sparring with a taekwondo exponent could come later, when he was more proficient.

There were a few regulars in the group who came every night, and they were happy to spar with Shinsou and point out his mistakes, and make suggestions. He began to drop by a few nights every week, and stayed for one or two hours. He stuck to sparring with the karate exponents at first, thinking it would be better until he was more proficient, but he also found it useful watching all the other exponents, and taking note of their technique. The regulars also had endless suggestions about videos that he could watch online, which turned out quite helpful.

He couldn't be sure how well he was progressing, but as the weeks passed his instructor at the Directorate seemed pleased, and during sparring sessions with the beginner class he soon began finding it too easy to defeat his opponents. When the instructor told him to move to a more senior class for the sparring, Shinsou decided that he must be getting somewhere.

.

.

His other preoccupation was with mastering Korean. In the one month that had passed, he didn't feel that he had learned much. The weekdays were filled with his other training sessions, and at night he was spending time practising karate. Weekends were the only chance he had to spend more time on Korean, and he crammed in as much as he could then, but he still felt that the going was slow.

Besides studying the textbook, he had found numerous online lessons teaching Korean, and he was spending most of his time looking at these and reviewing them, over and over.

He usually had meals with Kanako Hoshide. She was a very gloomy companion to be with, and she and Shinsou actually hardly spoke except to compare notes on each other's progress. They spent all their meals sitting opposite each other trying to cram in as much Korean or Chinese as they could in between swallowing their food. She had her nights free for studying Chinese because she wasn't under pressure to master any martial art the way he was; but even then, she claimed that she was learning very little.

Shinsou privately wished that he could skip his Korean language lessons with Teacher Kim and just study on his own, but his attendance there was being recorded, and he knew that Kaneshiro wouldn't agree to it because the Directorate had officially employed Kim as a language teacher. He was far ahead of Tomonaga and Noriyuki, because neither were in much of a hurry to learn Korean, and so the first hour was rather boring for him. The only useful period was the half hour in which he brainwashed the teacher in order to get his questions answered. The remaining half hour consisted of Teacher Kim droning from the textbook, something Shinsou felt he could have done by himself in half the time.

His only hope of improvement was the Korean church. Magnetron, in one week, had come up with not only the translator that Shinsou had requested, but a smartphone with an app as well that could translate Korean chat messages into Japanese. This was useful, because Kim Minjun had asked Shinsou for his phone number, and had promptly added him to the family chat group. The Kim family chatted a lot, and Shinsou soon felt as if he knew every tiny detail of their lives – they posted photos of all their meals and what they were doing at work or in school. Before getting the app he hadn't been able to read the messages much, since they were all in Korean, but he later realised that some of them had been directed at him, asking when he was going to come back to the church again.

Klystron, Magnetron's twin, had helped design the app, and she told Shinsou that he should use this Directorate smartphone for the family chat instead. He should not use his personal phone for work matters, since his work was covert in nature. The Directorate routinely issued smartphones to its agents for work purposes, and he only needed to get Kaneshiro to sign for the subscription, since he was still a recruit under probation.

Kaneshiro signed the form without asking any questions this time, much to Shinsou's surprise. The latter also somehow had the impression that his usually stern supervisor was trying hard not to smile, although he could have been imagining it.

Shinsou began turning up early at New Life Church every Sunday, arriving at the same time the Kim family came to set up their drinks stall. The stall was a good place to listen to Korean, because almost everyone who came down to the basement after the morning services would invariably come and get a drink, and often stayed to chat. They would greet each other first, and this was useful, for Shinsou was finding all the Korean honorifics hopelessly confusing to learn. There were different ways of addressing people in Korean according to age and gender, and also whether the speakers were already acquainted, or strangers.

He soon fell into a routine. The first thing he did was to look at Isaac and Miriam's homework. With the translator, it now became possible to explain things to them in Korean, and also talk about other things. The children were inquisitive and wanted to know everything about him, including where he worked (he said vaguely that he was doing part-time work while looking for a permanent job) and whether he had a girlfriend.

After that Shinsou would make the children return to the stall to help their mother, and then sit by with the translator and listen to people talking. The translator looked like a handheld game console, and children passing by kept coming over to have a look at it. They insisted on hanging around even after discovering that there was only Korean and Japanese text being displayed on it, as if they were hoping it would suddenly transform itself and produce games. Younghee would laugh whenever she looked over and saw the crowd of children peeking over Shinsou's shoulder, and said that he looked as if he was conducting Sunday School.

.

.

About two months after the recruits had started work at the Directorate, Kanako Hoshide resigned.

Shinsou hadn't been expecting it. On that day, they had made their way over to the staff cafeteria as usual for lunch. Every meal was the same. Shinsou would grab some food, and then sit in a corner and study Korean while eating. Kanako Hoshide usually sat opposite him, studying her Chinese language textbook. Sometimes, they would compare notes.

"At least you only have Hangul to learn," she would always say, looking depressed, "I keep mixing the Chinese characters up with Kanji. It's very difficult."

As on other days, Shinsou just smiled in encouragement, and then put his earphones on. He was just becoming engrossed in the lesson, almost forgetting to chew his food, when he realised that someone was standing next to him, talking.

He took the earphones off. It was one of the other recruits, Shinohara.

"Was wondering when you were going to take those off," remarked Shinohara, in his usual bouncy manner, "Some of us trainees are going for a movie tonight. Do you and horse – I mean Hoshide, want to come?"

Hoshide had not missed the slip. Her expression was frosty.

"No, thank you," she said coldly.

"It's all right, thanks, I'll pass," said Shinsou. He saw Tomonaga and Noriyuki sitting further down, together with some of the other recruits. "Maybe another time, when I'm done with the assignment." Assignments were usually meant to be confidential, but the other recruits had inevitably found out about Shinsou's and Hoshide's, although they didn't know the details. It was harder to keep things secret when you were a recruit and sharing classes. Once you became a full-fledged agent and stopped mixing so much with the others, it was easier.

"We thought we'd get together before you and Hoshide go off, in case you never come back," said Shinohara, a droll expression on his face.

"Shut up, Shinohara," said Hoshide, looking tense.

"I appreciate the sentiment," said Shinsou drily, "Hoshide and I will try our best to disappoint you, however."

Shinohara laughed and gave them a thumbs up, and then walked off.

Hoshide looked as if she was almost in tears.

"Are you all right?" asked Shinsou in concern, "Don't take him too seriously. He's always joking around."

"He's right," she whispered, "I'm really scared, you know. I don't think I'm going to be able to manage this."

"China's a better place to go to nowadays, compared to North Korea," said Shinsou, trying to encourage her.

"Have you been to the rooftop garden here?" she asked, in a low voice, "There's a stone wall there inscribed with the names of those who never made it back."

Shinsou had seen it, for Kaneshiro had shown it to him. The stone slab had names inscribed in Kanji on it – the names of agents who had either served the Directorate illustriously, or who had died while in the line of duty. Shinsou had looked at it and found himself wondering if his own name would ever be there, and if so, for which reason.

"I keep thinking about it," said Hoshide, her voice shaking slightly, "it seems so terrible, dying alone in a foreign land, far away from family and friends. Sometimes no one will ever know what happened to you. You just never come back. It's different from being a hero here in Japan, and dying when you fight a villain."

"Well, you'll be going to China with your supervisor, won't you?" Shinsou said encouragingly, "He'll probably take care of things." He wanted to add, "Better than mine will, since he's not a drunkard."

She just nodded distractedly, and turned back to her book. Shinsou thought no more of it, but that night, he saw her clearing her things out of her locker, and she told him that she had resigned.

"I just can't take it any more," she said, looking depressed, "I know I've let the people here down. I'd been specially picked for an assignment, unlike the rest, but the Directorate must have made a mistake, choosing me. I don't think this is for me."

Shinsou didn't know what to say, because she looked so dismal. He stood by while she finished packing, and then accompanied her down to the main door of the Directorate.

"Good luck, Shinsou," she said, looking upset, "Good luck in North Korea. I know you'll do all right. You've got what it takes. Not like me."

She looked so unhappy that he put a hand on her shoulder, in sympathy. She started crying then, but picked her bag up and then disappeared out the door into the night. Shinsou never saw her again.

.

.

The other recruits were shocked when they found out that Hoshide had left.

"I hope it isn't because I called her Horse Face," said Shinohara, looking guilty.

"It probably was," said Ishida, another of the recruits, "I told you to shut up." Ishida had a rather fox-like face, but he was a kind-hearted person, and he had been nicer to Hoshide than the others.

"Don't worry if you're the only one headed for disaster now, Shinsou," said Shinohara cheerfully, "We're all supporting you." He obviously thought that he was making a comforting speech.

"He'll be fine," said Tomonaga, in his deadpan way, "He's way ahead of me and Noriyuki in Korean."

.

.

It was rather demoralising being the only one with an assignment now, but as it turned out, Shinsou didn't have long to wait before he had company again.

He was in room six on the eighteenth floor together with Kaneshiro, when she arrived. Shinsou's timetable included training time with his supervisor, but Kaneshiro hadn't started sparring with him yet and was allowing him to use the hour as he pleased. He was studying Korean when the door swung open, and a girl with a cat's head came in. She stopped short when she saw the two people in the room, and looked startled.

"Miaow," she said, staring at Shinsou, "Who are you?"

"Hitoshi Shinsou," said Shinsou coolly, "Who are _you_?"

"Ryoko Hirano," said the cat-headed girl, looking confused. She looked at Kaneshiro. "Where is Yamamoto-san?"

"He asked to be transferred to Training two months ago," said Kaneshiro, looking at her with a slightly puzzled manner, "I've taken over his position here."

"Miaow, he must have thought I was too hopeless to train," said Ryoko, disconsolately. She looked rather wildly at Shinsou. "But – why is _he_ here?"

"He's a new recruit assigned to Nakajima," said Kaneshiro.

"But – what about _me_?" protested Ryoko, "Oh, I knew it – I'm no good, aren't I? I've been displaced by someone else!" She burst into tears.

Kaneshiro was looking perplexed.

"Were you assigned to Nakajima?" he asked, "He didn't mention anything about this to me. Where have you been all this time?"

"I knew it would happen," Ryoko wailed, not paying any attention to him, "I'm no good at anything!"

"Hirano, stop crying," said Kaneshiro, firmly.

Ryoko continued crying.

"Shinsou, I'm going to see Nakajima about this," said Kaneshiro, eyeing the crying girl doubtfully, "I'll be back shortly." He left the room.

Ryoko continued standing where she was, wailing. After a while, Shinsou lost patience.

"Stop that bawling," he said irritably, "I'm trying to study."

At this, Ryoko stopped, and stared at him.

"That's better," said Shinsou, picking his book up again, "Since you're not capable of explaining anything, at least keep quiet." He continued reading, a frown on his face.

"Miaow, you're not very polite, are you?" said Ryoko, indignantly.

"Who's being impolite?" said Shinsou pointedly, "Kaneshiro and I were working, and then you barged in and started making a racket."

"Miaow, but that's because I was upset!" said Ryoko.

"Well, keep quiet now, then," said Shinsou shortly, bringing his attention back to his book again.

"All because you've displaced me doesn't mean – " said Ryoko, and then her face went blank.

After another ten minutes Kaneshiro came back in, holding a sheaf of papers.

"All right, Ryoko Hirano – " he began, and then noticed the cat girl standing and staring blankly into space.

"Shinsou," he said with a note of complaint in his voice, turning and looking at Shinsou.

Shinsou woke Ryoko up.

"Miaow, what happened?" she said, startled that Kaneshiro had suddenly materialised inside the room.

"Shinsou brainwashed you," said Kaneshiro mildly, taking a seat at his desk, "That's his Quirk. Annoy him at your peril."

"Brainwash?" said Ryoko, her eyes bulging in terror, "What kind of horrible Quirk is that?"

"All right, Ryoko Hirano," said Kaneshiro again, looking at the cat girl, "You're with us. Both you and Shinsou have Nakajima and me as your supervisors, and you'll be going to North Korea together, as a team."

Shinsou and Ryoko looked at each other, startled.

"I have here the results of your assessments for the past month," added Kaneshiro, nodding at Ryoko, and arranging the papers on his desk.

"I'll leave," said Shinsou promptly, getting up.

"No, stay," said Kaneshiro, holding a hand up to indicate that Shinsou should remain, "I'm going to discuss her progress with her, but you're going to have to listen because she's behind in a few things, and you're going to have to help her out a bit."

Shinsou looked at Ryoko, and then sat down again, looking anything but enthusiastic.

"Now, Hirano," Kaneshiro began, "most of the new recruits joined the Directorate after their final term results were released, but Nakajima said that you joined early due to his recommendation. Your father, apparently, used to work with him."

Ryoko nodded, looking sheepish.

"You and Shinsou are both going to be on board the Shiramine," continued Kaneshiro, "Shinsou's going as a deckhand, and you're going to be an assistant cook in the ship's kitchen, which is why Yamamoto sent you for a cooking course."

"Yes," said Ryoko, in a small voice.

"You were supposed to come back at the beginning of June and start training together with the other recruits," said Kaneshiro, "but you failed the cooking course, and had to repeat it."

"Miaow, do you have to say all this in front of him?" asked Ryoko, going red and glaring at Shinsou.

"Nakajima said that Yamamoto arranged for night lessons for you in Korean and karate so that you wouldn't fall too far behind," Kaneshiro went on, ignoring her, "You managed to scrape through the cooking class, but in the other instructors' opinions, you haven't advanced as much as you should have in the other two."

"Miaow, that's an understatement," wailed Ryoko, "I'm terrible at it, terrible!"

"Well, you'll have to work harder to catch up, from now on," said Kaneshiro, fixing her with a stern eye, "You'll have to put in extra time at night, when classes are over. You can come to me if you need help, of course, but Shinsou's been attending the classes here since they started, and you can ask him for help, too." He looked at Shinsou.

"I don't have time to help her," said Shinsou, annoyed.

Kaneshiro stared coldly at him.

"I hardly have time to prepare for North Korea, myself," Shinsou pointed out.

"Miaow, you see, he doesn't want to help me," said Ryoko, gloomily.

"You will help her," said Kaneshiro, in a voice that brooked no dissent, "because you're both in this together. If she's weak, she'll pull the whole team down. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You'll have to watch out for each other, once you're over there."

Shinsou looked mutinous.

Ryoko was looking sorry for herself.

"Now, Hirano, I hear that your Quirk is shapeshifting," said Kaneshiro, looking speculatively at her.

Ryoko looked cautious.

"Yes," she admitted.

"How do you activate it?" enquired Kaneshiro.

"I can only change myself to look like other people," said Ryoko, a furtive expression on her face, "not animals or inanimate objects. I have to eat something that comes from them, hair, blood, finger nails …"

She saw Shinsou's revolted expression, and said in protest, "Miaow, don't look like that! I can't help it, that's the way my Quirk is!"

"Well, I'm going to send you for acting lessons with Makeover Girl," said Kaneshiro, jotting it down on her timetable, "You don't need to learn how to disguise yourself, since with your cat's head it'll be difficult, and you can make up for it by shapeshifting; but once you've shapeshifted, you'll need to act the part. We can't have you impersonating someone and then saying, 'Miaow'."

"Miaow, I know," said Ryoko, her eyes filling with tears.

"And don't cry at every little thing," added Kaneshiro, "You had better get over this massive inferiority complex. You're going to be an intelligence agent ... to say that you'll have to be a lot tougher than this is an understatement."

"I didn't want to join the Directorate," said Ryoko sulkily, "My father was the one keen for me to join. He used to be Nakajima's sidekick."

"Well, you should speak to your father," said Kaneshiro, "It's admirable to want to please your parents, but this is a dangerous occupation. Your father should know that. If you don't have the desire or the aptitude for the job, you shouldn't go in for this."

"Miaow, but he's got an illness," wailed Ryoko, close to tears. "I thought that I could join and just finish one mission successfully and make him happy. I doubt he'll be around long after that."

Kaneshiro fixed his penetrating gaze on her.

"Then if you've decided to do this, have more backbone," he said, "Stop saying that you're bad at everything. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

.

.

Ryoko joined the recruits for classes the next day, and Shinsou soon began to agree that she was hopeless. In the Korean language class, she was far behind Tomonaga and Noriyuki, and Teacher Kim spent most of his time with her, leaving the others alone. After the first hour was up, the other two left, but she stayed on with Shinsou.

Shinsou, looking resigned, brought his phone out, and began going through the Kim family's chat group conversations, answering a question here and there that had been addressed to him. Unlike the translator, the app only allowed him to reply in Korean. Klystron had told Shinsou that he would never become fluent if they kept giving him gadgets that translated Japanese replies into Korean, and so for the chat group he would have to think up his own replies. The app, however, had a dictionary and a grammar checker which would help him.

"Hirano," said Teacher Kim finally, "Show me your timetable. I am going to arrange for a separate class for you. I cannot teach both you and Shinsou at the same time. The disparity in your levels is too great."

Ryoko brought her timetable out. She shot an envious glance at Shinsou.

"I know I'm not as good as him," she said, jealously.

In the karate class, Ryoko was also far behind the rest.

"I was told you'd been having instruction for the past few months," said the instructor, looking perplexed, "maybe you should wait for the next beginner's class, and join that."

"Miaow, but I can't, I've got to prepare for an upcoming assignment!" wailed Ryoko.

In the end, after much discussion with Kaneshiro, they decided that Shinsou could give up two of his private classes to Ryoko, and join the more advanced class instead.

During her firearms lesson, some of Ryoko's shots went dangerously astray. The instructor became angry with her, and everyone else present soon drifted to the other end of the shooting range to get as far away from her as possible.

When she arrived for her acting class with Makeover Girl, the other recruits had just finished their own lesson and were leaving. Shinohara, spotting Ryoko, said, "Folks, let's make ourselves scarce. I'm going to have nightmares if I see myself looking like a rainy day and saying, 'miaow'!"

Apparently, Makeover Girl had collected a hair from each of the recruits, and wanted Ryoko to shapeshift into each in turn and try behaving like them.

"Oh good, you're here too, honey," said Makeover Girl, spotting Shinsou, who had come to replenish the makeup in his disguise kit – he had been using it rather often, because of the nightly karate and the church visits – "Pull one of your nice purple hairs out and give it to me, will you? Hirano," she called out to Ryoko, "You should know all your classmates' mannerisms. Those green and orange guys … forgot their names … you've got to look deadpan like them. And then there's that bouncy guy, always joking around … and that guy who looks like a fox, always very laid-back. And what's his name … Shibata … always getting angry at every little thing."

"All right," said Ryoko, with trepidation.

"Thank you," said Makeover Girl, as Shinsou handed her a hair, "Now, for Shinsou, you've got to look scary like him when he's angry, have that dangerous gleam in your eyes, and talk in that menacing way. All right?"

"Miaow, it's so difficult," said Ryoko, looking overwhelmed, "I don't think I can do it."

Shinsou decided it was time to leave. He agreed with Shinohara that it would be too bizarre to see Ryoko turn into himself, and see her perpetually agonized expression on his own face, and worst of all, hear himself say, "Miaow!"

In the Support Lab, Fermion tried to give Ryoko an accelerated course in order to help her catch up with the others, but she managed to break some of the spy cameras and night vision devices.

"Hirano," said Fermion, waving the broken goggles threateningly at her, "Do you know how much one of these costs?"

"Miaow, I'm sorry!" wailed Ryoko, "You can deduct it from my salary!"

At their next explosives class, the recruits were supposed to construct a pipe bomb, which was a common improvised explosive device because all of its components were easily obtainable. It consisted of a short section of steel pipe, a fuse and a small clock for a timer. A selection of explosive materials was available, such as fertilizer and gunpowder.

The instructor told the class to be extremely careful, because the explosive material could be prematurely ignited by friction or static electricity during the packing stage. As a result, nearly everyone in the class moved as far away from Ryoko as possible. The only person willing to stay near her was, surprisingly, Shinsou.

"Miaow, they're so mean," said Ryoko, looking mournfully at her distant classmates.

"Are you hoping to die young, Shinsou?" Shinohara called out.

"Relax," said Shinsou coolly, "Her pipe bomb's not going to explode."

"Miaow, you're so mean," said Ryoko, indignantly.

However, he turned out to be right. Later, at the detonation site, they set off their bombs one by one, and only Ryoko's refused to go off.

"What have you done now, Hirano," said the instructor, examining her handiwork and trying to figure out what she had done wrong, as she stood by dolefully.

However, the class that Ryoko ended up disrupting the most was a rappelling lesson that Iridium had arranged because the recruits were keen on it. It consisted of both rappelling (sliding down a rope with a harness) and fast-roping (without the harness) off a high platform.

Ryoko looked frightened during the rappelling, and Iridium had a hard time getting her to jump off the platform. She kept wailing that she was afraid of heights. When the time came for the fast-roping, she was even more terrified, because now there was no harness.

"Hirano, stand back, and let Shinsou go first," ordered Iridium.

However, Shinsou was just reaching the bottom when Ryoko lost her head. She suddenly jumped off, ignoring Iridium's shouts, and promptly released her hold halfway through the descent, with the result that she fell like a ton of bricks on top of Shinsou.

He was not amused.

"Get off!" he snarled, shoving her off furiously, while Shinohara and the others looked on, almost crying with laughter. Shinsou grabbed Ryoko by the collar, his face scarlet with rage, and started shaking her.

"You failed feline," he said menacingly, through clenched teeth, "Do that again, and I swear I will brainwash you, and make you jump off the roof of the Directorate!"

"Oh miaow, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it," wailed Ryoko, "I just lost my head, I was so nervous!"

"Shinsou, let go!" barked Iridium, seeing that things were getting out of hand, "Hirano, what on earth did you think you were doing?!"

"Miaow, I feel frightened if there's nothing under me but the floor," wailed Ryoko, "I wanted to start fast-roping while there was still someone under me."

"Well, don't do that again!" said Iridium angrily, "Get back up there and do it properly!"

Ryoko went back up. However, she was simply too afraid to fast-rope unless there was someone under her to break her fall, even though there was matting on the ground. She did the same thing again, and fell on Ishida this time. Fortunately his reflexes were quick and, using his Quirk, he shrunk himself to a size so small that he was able to evade getting squashed by her.

The next time around, she fell on Shinohara. At the last minute, he transformed into an owl and flew out of range.

"She's a disaster waiting to happen," said Shibata.

"She's a disaster that's already happened," said Shinohara with conviction, having transformed back.

Tomonaga and Noriyuki adamantly refused to go before Ryoko, but Shibata managed to descend successfully without her falling on him; for Ryoko knew that Shibata had a fearsome temper, and she was even more afraid of him than the fast-roping.

"Hirano, next," called Iridium.

But Ryoko was too terrified to fast-rope when there was no one under her to break her fall. In the end Iridium gave up on her, and made her climb down from the platform. Tomonaga and Noriyuki waited until she was on the ground, before sliding down themselves.

"Shinsou, good luck having that walking disaster with you in North Korea," said Shibata darkly, "It'll be a miracle if she doesn't sabotage your entire mission and kill off everyone in the team."

Shinsou scowled, but said nothing. Ryoko was, after all, in his team, and angry with her as he might be, he was not about to criticize a team member in front of the others. All the same, he reflected gloomily that the others were right: she was a walking disaster. He had thought that accompanying a drunkard like Nakajima to North Korea was bad enough, but with the advent of this new team member, the chances of some calamity occurring now appeared to have increased a hundredfold.


	5. Nakajima

**5 NAKAJIMA**

Ryoko continued to blunder her way through her classes over the next few days. As the end of the week approached, however, she managed to locate Shinsou in room six during one of their free hours, and approached him with a penitent look on her face.

"Shinsou-kun, I thought that we could make peace," she said, nervously.

Shinsou looked up from his book.

"I didn't know that we were at war," he said, coldly.

"Miaow, you know what I mean," said Ryoko abjectly, "You're angry with me, aren't you? But I really am trying my best. I don't want to jeopardize our mission either, and I sincerely want to improve. I'm frightened at the thought of going to a place like North Korea. You've got to help me!"

"I don't see what I can do that the instructors aren't doing, already," said Shinsou, preparing to retreat behind his book again.

"Well, you know, our Korean teacher isn't very good," began Ryoko, "neither was the one Yamamoto-san engaged for me at the beginning. But you've improved a lot, despite being in his class. If you could give me some advice about how you did it, it would help me."

Shinsou frowned, but put his book down. He then took his phone out and showed her which online lessons he had found useful. He didn't tell her about the church, though, because if she insisted on coming along, he felt sure she would give away the secret that they were from the Directorate. However, he said, "You can also try checking out Korean TV dramas and K-pop music; they're quite popular, and if you like them it might help."

Ryoko solemnly bookmarked the Korean lessons in her phone, and made a note of the K-pop.

"And … I need help with the karate, too," she said hesitantly, after thanking him, "Kaneshiro told me I don't need to be outstanding, just attain a minimum proficiency in order to pass my probation. But I don't feel comfortable with our karate instructor, and I don't understand what he's saying, sometimes. If you could give me a few tips, I'd be grateful."

Shinsou thought it curious that Ryoko wasn't being pressured about the karate the way he was. She seemed serious, though, and he appreciated that she was putting some effort into improving, so in the end he went down with her to the training hall the next time they were free, and had a look at how she practised.

"Don't slouch," he said sharply, "You can't punch or kick properly if you don't have the correct posture."

"Miaow, all right," said Ryoko, straightening up.

After a while, he also noticed that she was holding her breath.

"Breathe properly," he said, "You're too tense. Relax. If you hold your breath, you'll tire more easily."

He corrected a few of her movements while she was using the training bag, and then tried sparring with her. She was frightened of hitting him, and also being hit.

"If you're sparring, you can't avoid getting hurt sometimes," Shinsou pointed out, "even during basic drills which are no contact, people can estimate wrongly and end up striking their opponent. I have to see Bainbridge every now and then when I get an injury." Bainbridge was the Directorate's resident doctor.

"I'm not cut out for this," said Ryoko mournfully, "I don't like hurting people, or being hurt."

"You can do it if you put your mind to it," said Shinsou firmly, "Look, I'm going to brainwash you, and then you'll spar with me. We'll get someone to record a video of us, and then you'll see what you can do."

He brainwashed someone who was training nearby into taking a video of them with Ryoko's phone, and then sparred with her. She woke from her trance whenever there was an impact, of course, but he then simply brainwashed her again. Finally, he dismissed the cameraman and sent him back to his training, and then let Ryoko look at the videos.

"Miaow, I didn't know that I could do that," she said, surprised.

"Well, now you know," said Shinsou, "and you could probably perform competently in your other training sessions too, if you didn't keep thinking that you're hopeless. For karate you'd better put in extra training in the evenings, like Kaneshiro advised you to. But don't overtrain. You'll get injured, and that will lead to no training at all. Listen to your body; it'll tell you if it needs more training or less. Leave at least one day a week for your body to rest. I usually recover during the weekends, and focus more on learning Korean during that time."

She was looking tired, so he told her to sit down and rest for a while. Her mouth wasn't tired, though, and when he sat down nearby and brought his phone out, she started producing a constant stream of conversation.

"Don't you think Kaneshiro-san is handsome?" she sighed, gazing adoringly into space, "He makes me want to swoon! I think he's so drop-dead gorgeous, like a movie star! If he wasn't here at the Directorate, but working in a hero agency, I bet he'd be super popular!"

Such fatuous talk would ordinarily have made Shinsou cringe, but he liked Kaneshiro, and so he gave Ryoko a small smile.

"Talking about working elsewhere, do you know what I plan to do, once we've finished this assignment and I've resigned?" asked Ryoko confidentially.

 _If_ we manage to survive this assignment, Shinsou thought. But he said, "What?"

"I want to run a ryokan and live in a place with lovely scenery where I can look out every day and see a beautiful world," said Ryoko dreamily, "I've been reading about North Korea, and it's so depressing. At my ryokan at least I'll be able to see that the world can still be beautiful, and not a mess like it is now."

"Hm," said Shinsou, not really listening. He had switched his phone on, and was checking the messages on it.

"I want a life where I'm surrounded by people who always have happy faces because they're on holiday," continued Ryoko, idealistically.

"You don't realise how demanding and unpleasant guests can be," remarked Shinsou, not very encouragingly, "especially to someone as prone to making mistakes as you."

"Miaow, you're such a wet blanket," said Ryoko, crossly.

"I'm just waking you up to reality," said Shinsou, still concentrating on his phone. A lot of the unread messages were from Ayumi, and he felt guilty because he hadn't had time to look at them. Her most recent message announced that she had bought a new pair of earrings, and she had sent him a rather coquettish-looking photo of herself wearing them.

"Miaow, is that your girlfriend?" enquired Ryoko with interest, peeking over his shoulder, "She's pretty!"

"Well, I can't really say if she's my girlfriend," said Shinsou absently, closing the photo and going on to the next message, "We've just been seeing each other on and off, for quite a while."

"I think she looks nice," said Ryoko pensively, "How are you finding time to see her with all the training?"

"I'm not, that's the trouble," he said, rather ruefully, "I've hardly even been answering her messages. I'm just waiting for her to dump me for someone else."

"Miaow, surely not," said Ryoko meditatively, still looking on as he browsed through the messages, "from the photos she's sending, it looks like she's still pretty interested in you!"

"Most of them were sent to her friends' group chat," said Shinsou, omitting to mention that Ayumi had resent all the same photos directly to him as well, to make sure that he saw them. He decided that half her messages were about clothes and could be deleted.

"We're not really going steady," he continued, seeing that Ryoko was still peering over his shoulder, "Like I said, we've just been seeing each other on and off, and agreed that we could still date other people."

"But you don't, do you?" said Ryoko, "Date other girls, I mean."

"I don't," said Shinsou, surprised that he was telling her this much; it had been on his mind, though, and it was almost a relief to talk about it to someone, "but I'm sure she does. That's why I'm just waiting to hear that she's decided on someone else, especially since I've been neglecting her."

"Miaow, well, it's more than will ever happen to me," said Ryoko mournfully, "I don't have anyone. I'm ugly, aren't I? Most people wouldn't be interested in someone who looks like a cat. You think I'm ugly, don't you?"

"No, I happen to like cats," said Shinsou, but then couldn't help adding, "At least, those that don't talk."

"Miaow, you see?" wailed Ryoko, "I'll never find anyone! I think about it, sometimes. Even about my ideal proposal."

"What's that?" asked Shinsou, only half listening. He was still scrolling through his messages.

"He's got to climb Mt Fuji with me, and then propose when we reach the top," said Ryoko dramatically, "That's how my dad proposed to my mom. Isn't it romantic?"

Shinsou was saved from replying by the arrival of two other agents who wanted to use the training bag. He let them have it, deciding that Ryoko had had enough for one day, and reminded her again to continue practising on her own whenever she was free.

.

.

Several days later, Kaneshiro informed both trainees that their probation period was up, and that Nakajima wanted to see them at ten the next day.

Shinsou arrived promptly outside Nakajima's office at five to ten, and was wondering whether to go in without Ryoko, when she appeared with a rather peculiar expression on her face.

"Shinsou-kun, don't go in yet," she whispered with a conspiratorial air, "I need to talk to you!"

"Now, what?" asked Shinsou warily, "It's almost time to go in. If it's about the karate and the Korean, I've already taught you all that I can."

"Miaow, it's not about that," hissed Ryoko, looking around as if fearing they might be overheard, "It's about Nakajima-san!"

"Well, what about him?" said Shinsou, glancing at his watch.

"Tomonaga told me that he and Noriyuki originally thought that they would be monitoring Chongryon here," said Ryoko, "but yesterday he found out that his supervisor, Imamura, has actually been in charge of the group going over to North Korea for the last few years. And Nakajima himself has been monitoring Chongryon here, instead."

"What?" said Shinsou, looking at her in surprise.

"Yes," said Ryoko, nodding, "but Imamura told Tomonaga that Nakajima specially requested that he be given the assignment of going over to North Korea on the Shiramine this time. Imamura thought it wasn't a good idea because Nakajima's health hasn't been good, but he insisted."

"You mean to say," said Shinsou, "that it should be Tomonaga and Noriyuki going to North Korea, and not us?"

"Yes!" said Ryoko, looking rather agitated, "and in the meantime, Nakajima seems to have recruited you and me specially for this trip. I think it's strange. Why is he doing it? I think that we should find out!"

The door suddenly opened, and Nakajima looked out with an irate expression on his face. He appeared more sober than usual.

"What's all the talking going on out here about?" he said irritably, "I've been waiting for the two of you. It's already late!"

Shinsou and Ryoko mumbled an apology and followed him into the office, which still smelled strongly of whiskey.

"Now," said Nakajima, seating himself and waving at the other two to follow suit, "It has been more than two months, and your probation period is up. Shinsou, you're doing all right so far, according to Kaneshiro. He's going to start sparring with you, and you're going to have to converse in Korean with him."

Shinsou nodded. Kaneshiro had told him pretty much the same thing, the day before.

Nakajima turned, and frowned at Ryoko. She steeled herself, a frightened expression on her face.

"Hirano," said Nakajima, drumming his fingers on the table and regarding her bleakly, "What am I going to do with you?"

Ryoko was trembling.

"I've failed my probation?" she whispered.

"You're not doing well, to say the least," said Nakajima, "You took a long time to pass the cooking course, and you're hardly getting anywhere with the karate. Your Korean is a bit better, but you're nowhere near able to hold a conversation. And all the reports from your other training sessions aren't very complimentary, either."

Ryoko hung her head.

"However," said Nakajima, looking speculatively at her, "Your father begged me to nominate you for recruitment. I wanted to refuse, but I happen to have a sixth sense when it comes to what is required for a mission, and unfortunately I feel that we need you for this one. So, I am not going to fail you yet."

Ryoko looked up, hope dawning in her eyes.

"I'll give you another two months," said Nakajima grimly, "You had better triple your efforts and improve, especially the Korean. You won't be able to use your Quirk in North Korea, otherwise. What use is it if you shapeshift into someone there but give yourself away the moment you utter a word?"

"Miaow, I know," said Ryoko humbly, "I'll try harder, Nakajima-san."

"And continue with those acting lessons," said Nakajima, "Shapeshifting into people is useless if you can't act like the person. If you're still hopeless after two months, you're out."

"Yes, Nakajima-san," murmured Ryoko.

"That's all," said Nakajima, dismissively.

Ryoko looked appealingly at Shinsou.

"Nakajima-san," he said.

"Yes," said Nakajima, looking rather impatient. His face went blank.

Shinsou glanced at Ryoko, and then turned back to Nakajima.

"Why did you swap with Imamura, and insist on taking on the Shiramine assignment?" he asked.

"Because," said Nakajima, "I need to find Park Soojin."

Shinsou and Ryoko looked at each other.

"Who's that?" asked Shinsou.

"She's a Zainichi Korean woman I got involved with here in Japan, almost twenty years ago," said Nakajima.

Shinsou was taken aback. He glanced again at Ryoko, who was now looking extremely bewildered, and then turned back to Nakajima.

"Tell us the whole story about this from the beginning," he said, "and what this whole affair of you taking on the Shiramine assignment is about."

"Well, many years ago, I was one of the better agents here in the Directorate," began Nakajima, "There was only one group working on North Korea then, and I both monitored Chongryon here in Japan and also went over to North Korea to work as a covert operative.

"In the process I got to know a Zainichi Korean girl, Park Soojin, who was doing administrative work for Chongryon. We got into a relationship, but there was no future in it, because Chongryon doesn't approve of its members marrying Japanese citizens, and as an agent with the Directorate it would also kill my career to have a non-Japanese wife. Agents can't be cleared to work on classified cases and with confidential data if they are married to a foreigner, in case they leak the information to them."

Shinsou was looking intently at Nakajima. Ryoko was also looking extremely interested.

"Park Soojin wanted me to marry her and bring her to the United States," Nakajima went on, "She said that there was no future for Koreans like her here in Japan. I was surprised that she didn't want to go to South Korea, of course, but she'd had some relatives who migrated there and hadn't managed to fit in, and she also seemed to think that I might not fit in there either, as a Japanese.

"But I was doing so well in my career that I took a long time to give her a reply. She didn't know I was an intelligence agent; she thought that I was a typical Japanese salaryman working for a big company and that all my long absences were due to business trips. Hence she couldn't understand my reluctance to leave my job.

"In the meantime, I had a rival who also fancied Soojin, a Chongryon official called Choe Yong-gon. He was a very wily character and quite rich; he was involved with the Pachinko business here, and he also had business dealings in North Korea. He managed to convince Soojin that I wasn't serious about her, and to give up on me, and go with him to North Korea since she wanted to get out of Japan. I heard he promised to marry her, and assured her that he'd give her a comfortable life over there."

Ryoko gave a small sigh. "It's so romantic," she whispered to Shinsou, who responded with a sardonic look.

"Well, before I knew it, Soojin left for North Korea with Choe without telling me," said Nakajima, "I figured she'd chosen him over me, and so I didn't go after her. I heard that she'd settled in Wonsan, a port city on the eastern coast of North Korea, but as a covert op I was going mostly to the capital Pyongyang at the time, and anyway I didn't really want to see her again."

He stopped and stared down at his desk, as if thinking.

"Well," said Shinsou, after a while, "Then what happened?"

"Well, I tried to forget about Soojin, and continued with my career," said Nakajima, "but I retired from going out in the field some years ago, and then subconsciously the past somehow kept coming back to bother me, because I started drinking. Fujiwara was lenient with me, I would say; he gave me capable agents to supervise, like Kaneshiro … they hardly needed any supervision, and whatever assignments I was put in charge of were usually successfully executed by them.

"Then about a year ago, I started having problems with my liver, thanks to my drinking, and the doctors told me that if I didn't stop I would have just a few years to live."

He stopped again, and after a while Ryoko prodded Shinsou.

"Tell him to carry on!" she hissed.

"The Directorate has a covert operative who's been based in North Korea for a long time," said Nakajima, after being prompted by Shinsou to continue, "An old friend of mine, Watanabe. I've known him for years. I sometimes thought about asking him if he knew how Soojin was, but stopped myself. Anyway, he came back to Japan briefly last year, and when I told him about my medical condition, he told me that Soojin was pregnant when she left, and that I have a daughter who's now seventeen."

Ryoko was looking thrilled. "This is so exciting!" she squeaked.

"Of course, I asked him how he knew she was my daughter and not Choe's," said Nakajima, "and he said that he'd met Soojin when she first arrived in Wonsan, and she told him she was going to have difficulty passing the baby off as Choe's because she hadn't slept with him yet. She asked Watanabe what she should do.

"Anyway, Choe found out that she was pregnant and never married her in the end," Nakajima continued, "Watanabe's been keeping an eye on Soojin, all these years. Choe didn't come back to Japan much after he brought her over, but stayed in North Korea and concentrated on his businesses there. He got Soojin a small, dingy flat and a job as a waitress, and since she had a daughter he told her to tell people that she was a widow. He kept her as his mistress. He's in Pyongyang most of the time, but comes to see her when he's in Wonsan."

Nakajima looked like he was going to stop talking again, but Shinsou said abruptly, "Go on."

"Well, if I'd known that I had a daughter, I would probably have given up my career here and married Soojin and brought her to the U.S.," said Nakajima, "Watanabe says that he thinks Choe has guessed that I am an intelligence agent, because he has recommended that Yeonha – that's my daughter – be conscripted by the SSD, the State Security Department, for the intelligence service there. He's doing it to spite me, of course. He still hates me. What better way to get his revenge on me than to have my daughter become an intelligence agent in an enemy country, and spy on Japan?"

"But she's half-Japanese," protested Shinsou, "She'll be spying on her own countrymen. Can't Park Soojin refuse to allow it to happen?"

"No," said Nakajima, "Firstly, Yeonha doesn't know she's half Japanese. She knows that her mother came over to North Korea from Japan, but Soojin has told her that her father was a Zainichi Korean who died before she was born. Also, you don't have choices in North Korea. You can't choose your own job. The government assigns jobs to all the students, once they graduate from school. Usually they're assigned to the factories nearest their homes, but if there's a shortage of workers anywhere in the country, they simply force people to move and take up the work there. Choe Yong-gon has close ties with the government officials there, and he has arranged that Yeonha be conscripted by the secret police once she graduates from school in a year or so."

Shinsou felt that he knew what was coming.

"So, what does all this have to do with the Shiramine assignment?" he said.

"I may not have long to live," said Nakajima, "but I have to try to put things right, and save my daughter. I got Imamura to release the assignment to me so that I can go to Wonsan and fix things there."

There was a silence, and then Ryoko turned to Shinsou.

"Ask him whether he expects us to do anything," she whispered, as if she was afraid Nakajima would wake up if she spoke normally.

"Hirano won't have to do anything," said Nakajima, when asked by Shinsou, "She's accident-prone and too unreliable. It'll be more prudent to let her stay on board the Shiramine when I go to look for Soojin. But I'm going to tell Shinsou to pose as my son, and come with me."

"What?" said Shinsou, shocked. He stared at Nakajima in disbelief. "Why is that necessary?"

"Watanabe says that Soojin isn't the quiet and sweet girl she used to be," said Nakajima, "salaries in North Korea are too low nowadays for anyone to survive on, and almost everyone has a sideline in which to make money. Soojin's is to service men whom she meets during her waitressing job. They come to her apartment at night, and Soojin sends Yeonha downstairs to wait for a few hours while she's busy with them. You can imagine Yeonha's state of mind whenever this happens.

"If I turn up at the apartment alone, Yeonha is immediately going to assume I'm another of her mother's clients, and I'll never win her trust. But if I turn up as an old friend of her mother's coming to visit with my son in tow, she won't look at me that way. Even so, I don't know how easy it will be for me to talk her into leaving North Korea. Shinsou's nearer her age, and if he gets to know her, he can help me convince her. In the worst-case scenario, he can brainwash her into leaving."

Shinsou was listening in mounting fury, and was looking more and more incensed by the second; Ryoko was watching him in alarm, but just when she thought that he was going to explode, there was a knock on the door, and Kaneshiro opened it and looked in.

Shinsou hurriedly woke Nakajima up.

"Am I interrupting anything?" asked Kaneshiro, looking ready to come back later.

"No, I've just finished talking to these two about their probation," said Nakajima. He looked at Shinsou and Ryoko. "That's all for now. You may go."

The two trainees hurriedly got up and left the room, Shinsou taking care not to look at Kaneshiro. He always had the feeling that his junior supervisor could see right through him.

They waited until the door had closed and they had walked some distance down the corridor, before speaking.

Ryoko glanced at Shinsou cautiously, but then clasped her hands together and looked sentimental.

"Oh, it's so romantic!" she gushed rapturously, "He's going there to see his true love, and make amends!"

"Romantic? You've got to be joking!" said Shinsou wrathfully, his face pale with anger. "He's going to make me masquerade as his son! He's bringing us to North Korea and putting us in danger, just to fulfil his own personal motives!"

"Miaow, calm down," said Ryoko, patting his shoulder, "It's tougher for you, of course, because it looks like you're going to have to help him. I'm just going to be skulking on the ship. But just think, you might save his old sweetheart and his daughter! It's like a story out of a romance novel!"

Shinsou was not amused at all. He had talked to Kaneshiro the previous day to obtain more details about the assignment. Besides finding out whether there was anything on board the Shiramine being smuggled out of Japan, the team would probably have to track the weapons, if there were any, once they docked in North Korea, and see where they were being taken. This put more pressure on Shinsou to master Korean, for if he was to overhear any conversations in Korean and understand them, or brainwash and interrogate anyone, he needed to be fluent.

Kaneshiro had also said that the situation in North Korea had changed with the advent of Quirks. Before that, the government there had managed to maintain tight control of the people. Once people began to develop superpowers, however, it posed a dilemma for the regime. It could not retain control if members of the population possessed powers that made them stronger than the government.

The North Korean government now made it compulsory for everyone to register their Quirks. All those with Quirks that might one day pose a threat to the regime were instead incorporated into working for the government. They became one of the elite from young, sent to special schools where they were brainwashed daily with propaganda, and promised a bright and affluent future if they cooperated with the government.

Anyone with a powerful Quirk caught showing the slightest bit of opposition to the government was immediately executed or put away for good, or – if possible – crippled in order to render them Quirkless (such as amputating their hands, if that was the channel by which they transmitted their power). Anyone who broke the law and who had a powerful Quirk was given a far harsher punishment than one who was Quirkless.

There were also fearsome stories of the North Korean _Bowibu_ , or secret police, who planted informants everywhere, who ran the many labour camps in the country, and who often killed without mercy.

Shinsou's impression was that North Korea was a country where things weren't humane and didn't work by reason or logic. People were frequently sent to labour camps for the most trivial reasons, and foreigners were sometimes imprisoned and used as tools to exert pressure on enemies. Foreigners had been detained before, and forced to make confessions that they were working against the state.

Against this backdrop, Nakajima's revelation that he was going to attempt to save his old flame and daughter (which Shinsou interpreted as helping them to defect), and make Shinsou pose as his son, was therefore not amusing in the slightest. One wrong step could well spell the end, and certain death awaited anyone helping a local to leave the country.

Shinsou now understood some things. He had been wondering why Nakajima and not Kaneshiro was leading their team on board the Shiramine. As Aizawa had mentioned, the main supervisors in the Directorate seldom went out in the field.

Ryoko didn't have to worry about anything, for she wasn't going to have to pose as Nakajima's daughter. Shinsou thought about confiding in Kaneshiro, but he would then have to admit that he had brainwashed Nakajima, something that the junior supervisor would definitely disapprove of.

"I'm going to North Korea with a neurotic and an alcoholic bent on an insane mission," he thought pessimistically to himself that night, lying in the dark on the top floor of the Directorate, "Neither are going to be of much use if things go wrong over there. Is there a way to get out of it? Not at this stage. Can I brainwash my way out of trouble? Not with my Korean at the level it's currently at. Well, no point worrying too much about it, Shinsou, just double your efforts with the Korean, and try not to think too much about it, the rest of the time."

That was what he told himself. Even so, he spent a long time staring into the darkness after that, still thinking about things, and wondering whether there was a solution; and it was a long while before he managed to fall into a troubled sleep.


	6. Ayumi

**6 AYUMI**

Shinsou spent the next few days trying to think of some way to get out of his predicament. He could, of course, resign from the Directorate, but at this stage it no longer seemed possible. Fujiwara, the Director-General, had believed in his abilities enough to have Aizawa seek him out and invite him to join, and Kaneshiro seemed to have expectations of him as well; he had said "don't disappoint me", and Shinsou realised that he didn't want to disappoint him, for he knew that Kaneshiro's Quirk had enabled him to look within him and see his potential.

There was also the possibility that the Shiramine was genuinely being used as a cruise ship and wouldn't go to North Korea at all. If the ship was really going to North Korea, Shinsou hoped that the port it docked at wouldn't be Wonsan, which was where Nakajima's ex-girlfriend lived. If it did dock at Wonsan, he contemplated the possibility of brainwashing Nakajima into doing nothing that concerned his personal affairs every time they were there. However this would incur his supervisor's wrath when he found out, of course, and set up a permanent war between them, something that wasn't desirable.

There was also no use brainwashing Nakajima into confessing his intentions to either Fujiwara or Kaneshiro. Shinsou suspected that the latter two might even be aware of Nakajima's plans, and were doing nothing about it. If Kaneshiro knew what Nakajima was up to, he didn't appear to be trying to stop him. If anything, he was carrying out Nakajima's orders to train Shinsou the way he wanted. So long as the team successfully accomplished the mission of finding out what the Shiramine was up to, it seemed that nobody was going to object to whether Nakajima was engaging in his personal affairs at the same time.

Shinsou could, of course, give in and help Nakajima. Perhaps things weren't as bad as he thought. Nakajima had been going to North Korea for years in the past, after all, and had been a competent agent, if not one of the best. He should know how to arrange matters properly. That is, provided he remained sober during the trip.

After agonising over all the different avenues that he could take, Shinsou still didn't know what to do. And so, he simply tried to put it all to one side in his mind, and continued with his training as he normally did. Ryoko, however, noticed that he seemed subdued.

"Miaow, you're worried about North Korea now, aren't you?" she said, looking at him in concern. "Maybe I shouldn't have persuaded you to brainwash Nakajima."

Shinsou scowled. He couldn't say that he wished she hadn't, for it was infinitely better knowing what he was in for than not knowing.

"Leave me alone," he said shortly, "If you want to improve things, focus on your training so that you won't add to my misery when we go over there."

He didn't have much time after that to brood over the matter, though, for Kaneshiro summoned him and Ryoko, and told them that the time was approaching for them to apply to work on the Shiramine. They would have to get the necessary certifications before they could do that.

"Shinsou, you'll be applying to work as a deckhand," he said, "you'll have to get a general purpose hand certificate. I'm giving you the website URL – go there and download the training material. It should take you about fifteen hours of self-study, and then you'll have to complete online assignments. Once you've done that, you're going to go for a three days' practical course on board a training vessel."

Shinsou glanced at the sheet of paper that Kaneshiro had given him. The training involved learning about knots and splicing, mooring and anchoring ships, survival at sea, collision regulations, and nautical terminology, among other things.

"Hirano, you'll have to be certified to work on board a ship as an assistant cook," continued Kaneshiro, turning his attention to Ryoko, "You're going for a ship's cook training programme, and you're expected to go there already knowing how to cook. You'll be learning about cooking procedures specifically for a ship, especially how to prepare meals when the weather is heavy, because the ship can be rolling quite badly during those times …"

"Oh miaow," said Ryoko, looking apprehensive, "I'm going to be seasick. I just know it …"

"The other things include food hygiene, storage, kitchen operations for a galley, stock control, and menu planning," Kaneshiro went on, "You'll have to pass written and oral tests at the end of it, as well as a practical examination, in order to get your certification."

Ryoko was scrutinizing the pile of papers Kaneshiro had handed her, a worried expression on her face.

"Just don't poison everyone on our ship with your cooking," said Shinsou bad-temperedly, making his way over to the computer terminal at the other end of the room to download his course materials.

.

.

That Saturday Shinsou put aside Korean for once, and concentrated on studying the deckhand course materials. It seemed to him that the point of no return for going to North Korea with his mentally unsound team was at hand. In his mind, once he had completed this course and they had applied successfully to work on the ship, there would be no turning back. Before this, he had still been entertaining some hope that a miracle might happen, such as Nakajima getting sacked because of his drinking, or Ryoko getting the jitters and resigning early in fear the way Hoshide had, or Fujiwara ordering that Kaneshiro lead the team on board the Shiramine instead of Nakajima.

Shinsou had no objection to going to North Korea if it was with Kaneshiro. After all, working as a covert operative would inevitably involve danger, and he was willing to go if it was with someone he considered competent; but he baulked at the thought of accompanying people whom he considered dysfunctional, especially since this was his first assignment.

On Sunday, he went to New Life Church as usual. His spoken Korean was slowly improving, and he was grateful the people at the church hadn't laughed too much at his attempts to speak the language. By now he had become familiar with some of the other church members, and they recognised him as well, and often tried talking to him. He occasionally helped out at the stall when Younghee looked like she was struggling to manage, because the children usually disappeared mid-morning for their Sunday school class; and he would then be forced to speak Korean to the people he was serving.

The Kims had become so used to Shinsou being around that they had started asking him to join them for their afternoon activities after church as well, which usually consisted of shopping, or watching a movie, or an outing for the children to some place in Tokyo, like Ueno Zoo. This was useful too, since they would talk about what they were looking at in Korean. They would usually get him to buy tickets or order food for them in Japanese, though, although Kim Minjun spoke Japanese passably. They seemed to think that because he was Japanese he would be able to get a better price for them (not realising that the discounts were usually the result of his brainwashing the merchant).

.

.

Shinsou wished that he could bring Ayumi along for the Sunday outings since he had been spending so little time with her, but he couldn't, because he considered his time with the Kim family as part of his Directorate work. She would have found out then that he was trying to learn Korean, and he hadn't been able to tell her this, or that he was learning it because he was going to North Korea.

As a covert operative he had to keep his assignments confidential, and he could only tell her that the training at the Directorate was gruelling, and that it was keeping him busy week nights and Sundays as well. He had been feeling troubled about the upcoming assignment, but was unable to share his worries with her.

He had been trying to keep Saturdays available for her, but on those days he still spent a lot of time cramming whatever Korean he could into his brain, and by the time he met up with her he wasn't in the mood to do anything, and was half asleep. The truth is, he was exhausted, both physically and mentally, from worrying about things, and from working nonstop the entire week, and he needed a break. They went to the cinema once, and he fell asleep ten minutes into the movie and didn't wake up until it was over. And currently whenever he went over to her apartment, he would collapse on the sofa and doze off.

Ayumi was beginning to feel worried.

"You're working too hard," she finally said the following Saturday, when they were alone in her apartment and her flatmates were out, "This is totally unlike you. You normally don't even need much sleep. I was already taken aback when you said you were going to stay at your workplace. That's like being at work twenty-four hours a day, even if you're not working at night. It's not healthy."

"It's just for a year," said Shinsou, trying to stay awake, "or at least, until this assignment is over. I'm going through all the initial training now, that's what's keeping me busy. Once the basic training is over, I should be able to return to normal life, somewhat."

"At this rate you're going to work yourself to death, before that can happen," said Ayumi, looking anxious.

He had nodded off again, and she shook him awake.

"You see?" she said, "You're half asleep, all the time."

Shinsou closed his eyes again for a moment. Then he somehow managed to get up, and went over to the kitchen sink to splash water on his face. He came back to the sofa, feeling more alert.

"Are you like this at work too, half asleep all the time?" asked Ayumi, looking at him, wide-eyed.

"Actually, no," said Shinsou, sinking back down onto the sofa, "It's odd, I'm always wide awake there. The adrenaline keeps me going. It's only when I go out with you that I feel sleepy. I think it's because I feel more relaxed, then."

"That means that you're becoming bored with me," said Ayumi, pessimistically.

"I didn't mean that," said Shinsou, irritably. He didn't know how to explain to her that the thought of not being able to survive North Korea was driving him hard all week, and that the only time he seemed able to forget about his impending doom was when he was with her.

"Well, I hope things will get better, soon," said Ayumi, philosophically. Something suddenly occurred to her. "You're not seeing someone else, are you? That's why you're so exhausted?"

"What?" said Shinsou, wondering if he had heard her correctly.

"You're seeing someone else, and sleeping with her," said Ayumi, looking suspicious, "That's why you're so tired."

"I don't even have time to see you, how can I be seeing someone else?" said Shinsou, exasperated, "And anyway, what are you talking about? Aren't you the one who insisted that we weren't serious, and could still see other people, besides each other?"

"Yes, I said that," said Ayumi, looking distracted, "I've been thinking about that, lately."

"So have I," said Shinsou, leaning back on the sofa.

"You have?" said Ayumi, brightening.

"Yes," said Shinsou, trying not to let his eyes close again, "I was thinking it's a good thing we aren't serious."

"What?" said Ayumi, her face falling.

"Because it wouldn't be fair to you," said Shinsou absently, "After all, I may not come back."

"What?" said Ayumi, shocked.

But Shinsou had fallen asleep again. She shook him awake.

"What do you mean, you're not coming back?" she demanded.

Shinsou sat up.

"Sorry," he said, "What did I say?"

"You said you may not come back!" said Ayumi agitatedly, "You've found someone else, that's what you mean, and you're not coming back to me!"

"That's not what I meant," said Shinsou impatiently. "I was talking nonsense … my mind wandered. What I meant to say was that I'm spending so little quality time with you now, that it's good we're not serious … you can still go out with other guys."

"You want me to go out with other guys?" said Ayumi, looking crestfallen.

"You were the one who said you still wanted to go out with other men," Shinsou pointed out.

"I've been thinking about what I said," said Ayumi.

She must have been, thought Shinsou, I've been spending so little time with her.

"I won't pry if you have," he said, putting a hand to the back of his neck, "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would be so busy, joining the Directorate. Or that I would have to keep everything confidential."

"Maybe you might not stay on," said Ayumi, looking hopeful.

"I'm committed to it, at the moment," said Shinsou, leaning back against the sofa, and looking at her, "There are people there who seem to believe in me. Who have thought carefully about what I can do, and worked out a training programme specially for me. They've given me an assignment. They seem to believe in me, and I don't want to let them down, even though …" He was going to say, "even though my supervisor is mad and a drunkard", but then thought better of it.

"I see," said Ayumi, a little sadly.

"Even the Director-General," added Shinsou, "He believed in me enough to ask Aizawa to recruit me. There isn't any hero agency that went that much out of their way to get hold of me."

Ayumi gave a small sigh. "So, where does that leave me?"

Shinsou leaned forward, and took one of her hands in his.

"I can't leave now, Ayumi," he said, "not until after this first assignment, at least. If I fail that, then I'll take it as a sign that I'm not meant to be there. But at the moment, even though some things aren't ideal and it's so gruelling, I like it there. I'm learning a lot of new things, and I find I can do things I never thought I could do."

"All right," she said, nodding, her eyes downcast.

"Which is why I was thinking, it's good we decided we're not serious," said Shinsou, looking soberly at her, "it wouldn't be fair to you. You shouldn't have to put up with me neglecting you all the time."

"What are you trying to say?" said Ayumi, slowly.

Shinsou was finding it a lot harder to say than he had thought.

"Well, I thought that we could stop seeing each other, for a while," he said reluctantly, "at least, till this assignment of mine is over. I keep thinking that I won't make it back – I mean, it's going to be busy like this with me, for months. I just can't give you quality time right now, and I'm always feeling guilty about that, and always wondering when you're going to tell me that you've found someone else, because I've been neglecting you for too long. It would be better if we stopped, for now."

She abruptly pulled her hand away from his.

"I see," she said quietly.

Shinsou looked at her face, and knew that it was time to leave.

He got up, and made his way over to the door. He thought she might not follow him, and that he would see himself out, but she did.

At the door, he turned and looked at her. She was a beautiful girl, and he knew – and other people had told him as well – that there were a lot of other men after her. He had seen her with them before, not lately, but when they had first started dating. He hadn't liked it then, and she must have noticed, because she had been more discreet about it after that. He felt sure she was still seeing them, though; but he had never brainwashed her to ask her about it. That would have seemed too jealous and desperate.

"I'm sorry," he said, although he wondered why he needed to say it. After all, to her he was just one of many. But she looked upset.

"Are you sure this isn't because you're seeing someone else?" she asked, in a low voice.

Shinsou didn't understand why that mattered to her. He was tired, and not thinking clearly, and it had been painful for him to broach the topic of breaking up. She didn't understand what he was going through, and she didn't have to, because she had all those other suitors. He suddenly felt frustrated.

"I'm not," he said curtly, "I've already said so, many times."

He turned, and strode off. She stood at the door watching him leave, hoping he might turn and look back, or even change his mind and come back. But he didn't; he made his way swiftly over to the elevator and stood there waiting, head bowed, hands in his pockets. The elevator arrived all too soon and he got in, and was gone – gone out of her life, so she thought – without a backward glance.


	7. Kaneshiro

**7 KANESHIRO**

As Shinsou made his way down in the elevator, he discovered that the breakup with Ayumi had somehow dispelled his doubts about going to North Korea. He had originally envisaged their separation to be temporary, until his assignment was over (and assuming that he was going to survive it). But she had been upset when he had left, and he now felt certain that he wouldn't see her again … someone else would have taken his place before the following week was out, that is, assuming he'd ever had any serious place in her heart.

He felt depressed, and suddenly the thought of going to North Korea and never coming back didn't seem too bad after all. He even began to feel some sympathy for Nakajima, now that his own personal life was in disarray.

Monday came, and with it the first day of the deckhand course at the training company's vessel near Tokyo Harbour. Shinsou saw Ryoko heading toward the galley when he arrived. She had become less accident prone ever since she had seen the videos of her brainwashed self sparring with him, and she was making fewer mistakes during her training sessions.

She was looking nervous when Shinsou saw her, but he just nodded coolly and then went to look for his own trainer. Her ship's cook course was also being conducted on the same vessel, but she would be in the galley most of the time while he would be moving around the ship.

Shinsou was glad to be attending the course, although the training content wasn't particularly exciting. It consisted mostly of safety training, what to do if there was a fire on board, or if someone fell overboard, and how to carry out lookout duty. Still, it was a change of scene and took his mind off Ayumi, and although the training vessel wasn't going anywhere, it was pleasant to look at the other ships in the vicinity, many from other parts of the world, and imagine them sailing off to exotic destinations.

.

.

Kaneshiro had, in due time, started speaking Korean to Shinsou, and had also begun sparring with him. He was a karate black belt – it seemed that Nakajima had a bias toward karate, and most of his trainees had ended up learning that martial art.

He was characteristically serious and stern during the sparring. He had come often to watch Shinsou during all his different training sessions, to see how he was progressing, and already had in mind what he wanted his trainee to improve on for karate. He was an exacting taskmaster, and seldom did a word of praise ever fall from his lips. His comments, however, were always fair and constructive, and Shinsou found himself enjoying their sessions.

Kaneshiro had also managed to reorganise Shinsou's lessons with Kim seon-saeng-nim. Apparently the earlier setup had been planned by Imamura, Tomonaga's supervisor. It was reasonable while all the students were at the beginner's stage, but Shinsou had progressed way ahead of the other two, and Kaneshiro now arranged for him to have private classes with Teacher Kim.

Teacher Kim was given free rein to decide on the content of the lessons, and these now consisted of reading newspapers in Korean, and history lessons which included the teacher giving the student long lectures in Korean about the Korean War and the evils of North Korea and its regime, and also Japan's sorry treatment of Korea during its colonial days and the plight of the Zainichi Koreans in Japan, among other things. Shinsou scowled frequently during the lessons, but his Korean wasn't fluent enough to respond appropriately, and anyway he knew that a lot of the accusations weren't unfounded.

Fortunately, Korean-speaking sessions with Kaneshiro turned out to be a lot more pleasant. Kaneshiro spoke Korean like a native, and said that Shinsou was far less likely to progress if he was bored, and so they would talk about topics that were of interest to him. He allowed Shinsou to use his translator to record their conversations, so that he could play them back later and review them if he wanted to, and at the beginning he also allowed Shinsou to use it to create his replies in Korean.

They could talk about anything under the sun that Shinsou liked, he said, and they did. Kaneshiro became much less stern during these sessions, and treated Shinsou like an equal. He was a sympathetic listener and good to talk to, or perhaps it was because Shinsou knew that Kaneshiro had already seen into his heart with his Quirk, so that there was nothing to hide; but he found himself telling his supervisor a fair bit about himself, such as his early experiences when he'd first discovered his brainwashing power, and his time in Yuuei.

Kaneshiro talked about himself as well, and said Shinsou could ask him questions if he wanted to. He was surprisingly open; he spoke about his own hero training, his stint working in a hero agency where he had been popular, although he felt it might have been because of his looks, and how being popular very soon felt meaningless. He became tired of the attention after a while, and decided to try the Directorate, and had never looked back since. He told Shinsou about his own training experiences when he had first joined as an agent, and about some of the cases he had worked on.

They didn't always stay on the eighteenth floor, but often went down to the staff lounge, where there was tea and coffee available as well as comfortable sofas, and where they could find a quiet corner to talk. They also occasionally went to the rooftop garden for their sessions.

The garden had been built after Fujiwara had taken over as Director-General, and was in typical Japanese style, with a rock garden and trees and shrubs providing some greenery. At one end was a small shrine, and next to it was the stone wall that had upset Kanako Hoshide so much, engraved with the names of agents who had served the Directorate well, or who had never made it back from their missions.

The memorial was under a shelter that protected it from the elements, and it had been there much longer than the garden. It was hidden away behind some foliage, as if it was meant to remain unseen.

"It's like the operatives, themselves," said Kaneshiro, when Shinsou commented on this, "they work anonymously, and have left behind their desire for recognition. Even so, it's good that this stone exists, not only as a dedication to them, but for the others working here to remember the sacrifices their colleagues have made, for the country."

.

.

It was around this time that a taekwondo exponent finally turned up at the Shinagawa gymnasium for one of the martial arts sessions. He had just come to have a look, out of curiosity. His name was Saito, and he was a second dan black belt, so Shinsou didn't have high hopes of sparring with him. But after some discussion, in which Shinsou vaguely said that he planned to visit Korea some time and spar there, Saito said that Shinsou would bring disgrace to Japan if he lost too much to the exponents in Korea, and that he was willing to spar with a beginner in karate regularly if he was paid a token fee.

Taekwondo placed more emphasis on kicks, and although Shinsou never won any of their matches, at least he was getting a feel of what it was like sparring with someone trained in that martial art.

.

.

Nakajima, in due time, brought Shinsou over to the Chongryon office in Chiyoda, and made him brainwash the relevant official there into selecting him and Ryoko to work on the Shiramine (Ryoko having fortunately scraped through the ship's cook course).

Nakajima himself had accompanied Shinsou, but had made himself invisible, and they had gotten Makeover Girl to give Shinsou a disguise that would make him look like a middle-aged man, and trained him to act the part. It was the first time Shinsou was really using a disguise in his job, and it was an interesting experience for him.

Nakajima also appeared far more businesslike and no-nonsense than Shinsou had thought possible, and he began to entertain hopes that his supervisor might be able to remain sober for the mission. He instructed Shinsou to make the brainwashed Chongryon official sign and give them the job acceptance letters on the spot. He also made Shinsou ask the official if the Shiramine was smuggling anything out of Japan, but the man didn't know. He admitted, however, that the passengers on board were not going for a cruise, but were Zainichi Koreans going to North Korea to visit their relatives, and that the ship would dock at Wonsan.

"That's really useful," said Nakajima quietly, as they left the building, "if we could get you to interview the other officials in the building, we could probably get a lot more information out of them. I shall bear it in mind."

Shinsou suspected that Nakajima didn't want to find out everything too soon, because if the assignment was over too quickly, gone were his chances of getting his former girlfriend and daughter to defect.

They returned to the place where Nakajima had parked his car, and began making their way back to the Directorate.

"Shinsou," said Nakajima, as the car wended its way through the afternoon traffic, "you've brainwashed me and found out the real reason I'm going to North Korea, haven't you?"

Shinsou was startled; he looked sharply at Nakajima. The latter was driving, so Shinsou couldn't really see his expression.

He thought of denying the brainwashing; but Nakajima didn't sound angry, and if they could discuss it now, perhaps he might be able to talk his supervisor out of including him in the entire affair.

"Yes," he said, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

"I guessed you would have," said Nakajima, "You're no fool. That's one reason I engaged you for this mission."

"Well … actually, Ryoko was the one who suspected that something was up, and asked me to do it," Shinsou said, honestly.

"Did she," said Nakajima, "I should give her brain more credit. What were your reactions when I told you?"

"She was fully supportive," said Shinsou, "but then, she's not going to have to do anything, is she?"

"And you, no doubt, were angry," said Nakajima.

"It would be really unwise for me to get involved with your private affairs, Nakajima-san," said Shinsou, with measured tact.

"Probably," agreed Nakajima, "but I need your help. Are you going to help me?"

"Do I have a choice?" asked Shinsou.

"Well, I can't force you," said Nakajima, "I can issue you an order regarding the Shiramine's affairs, because it's in my official capacity as your superior in this assignment. But I can't order you around when it concerns my private affairs."

There was a pause, and then Shinsou said, "Does Kaneshiro know?"

"Yes," said Nakajima.

"And he approves," said Shinsou, looking out of the car window at the Tokyo traffic.

"He wished me good luck," said Nakajima, drily.

Shinsou was silent. He had come to like and respect Kaneshiro, and considered him to be his true supervisor, the one who really acted as a mentor and had overseen his training with a sharp eye. Kaneshiro, he knew, would have voiced an objection to Nakajima's plans if he had thought it necessary. And Shinsou also knew that Nakajima was being decent – and also humble – in asking for his help. He was Shinsou's superior, and he had the power to make things difficult if his trainee was uncooperative, since he would ultimately be the one evaluating his performance and recommending him for promotion.

"I'm not sure how much I can help," he said, noncommittally.

"I'm not sure how much you can help, either," Nakajima concurred, "but you could, at least, back me up a bit. And if you're afraid I'll do anything to jeopardize our mission with the Shiramine, let me assure you that I'll be giving that priority. I know where my responsibilities lie."

Shinsou knew that Nakajima also felt he had a responsibility as a father to his daughter, although he wasn't bringing it up here. He thought about his own personal life, and how easy it was to mess things up. For, after thinking more about it, he realised that Ayumi had looked as if she had wanted to talk that day, and if he had given her a chance to, they might still be together.

"I can't promise anything," he said at last, "I can meet your daughter, but I can't guarantee I can get her to defect. And I'd have to see how things are, over there, before I'd know whether I can do this."

"That's all right," said Nakajima. And they left it at that.

.

.

There was no turning back now; they were really going to North Korea. Shinsou did some thinking after the conversation with Nakajima, and still felt it would be a mistake being involved in his boss's private affairs. He decided to minimise his involvement as much as possible.

He had to wear a disguise for the assignment, and decided to make it as ugly as he could, and to adopt a characterless and boring personality, so that Nakajima's daughter wouldn't want to have anything to do with him. He would then tell his boss that he had tried his best, but it wasn't his fault that he hadn't been able to persuade his daughter.

Their only resort after that would probably be to brainwash her into agreeing to defect, and that should be a simple enough matter. Of course, she probably wouldn't remain brainwashed long enough for them to get her out of the country, but Shinsou decided that he would worry about that later.

He asked Makeover Girl for help with portraying his planned vapid character, and not knowing about his situation, she began to object after a while.

"Yes, a disguise is meant to make you not stand out," she said, "but if you want to look that ugly, you're still going to make an impression. And appearing too insipid will backfire, for the same reason. You should simply appear normal and nondescript. Your acting isn't good enough yet for you to use something too different from your usual self, so why don't you just wear the disguise you've been using weekends and week nights all this time? That one's all right, and you're comfortable with it now, so it would be good for your first assignment."

"That one's still too good-looking," Shinsou insisted. Some Korean girls at the church had begun hanging around the drinks stall rather often, and Younghee had been teasing Shinsou, saying that if he was going to go to the gym every day, he was bound to attract female attention. He couldn't tell her, of course, that he had no choice but to train, since it was Directorate work. And he had tried to wear baggy clothes and dress more sloppily after that, but the girls still persisted in coming.

However, Nakajima wanted to know what disguise Shinsou was going to use for posing as his son. He himself was not going to pose as one of the crew on the ship, for it would be simple for him to become invisible and sneak on board. The journey to Wonsan took little more than a day, and he could easily conceal himself in the ship's hold during that time.

Now that they were set to go to North Korea, Nakajima was putting an effort into remaining sober, and he arranged for a session in room six for the four of them – Kaneshiro, Ryoko, Shinsou and himself – to meet and talk about preparations.

"First, names," said Nakajima, "I'm going by the name Han Kyung-ju. Shinsou will be Han Young-jae, and Hirano will be Kim Ji-yeon."

Shinsou nodded indifferently. The church Kims had suggested he use a Korean name and had chosen to call him Youngjae, and Nakajima had not objected to him using it for the assignment.

Ryoko looked nervous.

"Jiyeon, Jiyeon," she muttered, and then she looked anxious. "I don't know whether I can remember that."

They then moved on to discussing about whether Ryoko would be able to maintain her disguise. Nakajima had not even wanted Ryoko to be in disguise for the assignment, for it would mean shapeshifting into another form, and he considered her too scatterbrained to maintain it.

"Her shapeshifted form lasts longer the more matter she ingests from the person she's impersonating," he said, "one hair about an inch long lets her keep her form for about four hours. That's all right if she's carrying out a short job, but not an assignment that lasts for days."

Kaneshiro disagreed.

"She needs a disguise," he said, "With her cat's head, she's extremely recognisable. I've already gotten Yoshida's permission for Hirano to use her form."

Yoshida was a dumpy little technician working in the Support Lab whom Kaneshiro had chosen for Ryoko to shapeshift into for the assignment.

"The main issue is whether she can maintain the disguise," said Nakajima drily, "We're going to have to give her a pile of Yoshida's hair to eat, and I wouldn't put it past her to forget to take it, or lose the whole lot."

"Miaow, that's just what I might do," agreed Ryoko, dolefully.

"Shinsou, you'll have to keep half the hairs, and remind her to take them," said Kaneshiro, looking at Shinsou.

Shinsou didn't want to, but Kaneshiro had an expression on his face that tolerated no argument, so he finally agreed, unenthusiastically.

"What about your own disguise?" said Nakajima, "Let's have a look at it."

Shinsou went off for ten minutes to put the disguise on, but when Nakajima saw it, he promptly squashed the effort.

"I may not be a handsome man," he said, "but I'm not going to have a son that ugly. You'll frighten both Soojin and Yeonha. Go put something decent on."

Ryoko was looking baffled, but Kaneshiro's lips twitched. Shinsou felt sure the junior supervisor knew what he was up to.

"That'll do," said Nakajima, when Shinsou came back in his Sunday church disguise. "Much better. You had better cut the hair a bit shorter, though." He frowned. "What do you think?" This last question was directed at Kaneshiro.

"A bit shorter," Kaneshiro agreed, "and remember to wear something nondescript."

He was not joking, for in North Korea, the government had a policy that its citizens should dress in a conservative, inconspicuous manner, and, ludicrous as it seemed, a very real sort of "fashion police" existed, made up of officials from the Ministry of People's Security, and the Youth League. Certain forms of dress were a no-no: women, especially, should not dye their hair or wear revealing or tight-fitting clothes, and men could not sport hair longer than a certain length. Jeans were out, especially blue jeans, for they were considered to look too foreign. Such infringements could be punished by having the culprit undergo self-criticism sessions, or incredibly, even a few months in a labour camp.

"Not that you wouldn't be able to get away by brainwashing the fashion police," added Kaneshiro, "but you wouldn't want to attract any sort of attention, in the first place."

Deciding that the matter was settled, Nakajima took his leave of them, and went back to his office.

"Miaow, you look cool," said Ryoko, looking critically at Shinsou, "I can't tell which I like better, your real self or this look. I'm sure you'll be able to get along with Nakajima-san's daughter in that!"

"You've just made Shinsou's day by saying that, Hirano," said Kaneshiro, mildly. He went over to his desk, and began sorting a pile of papers there.

Shinsou scowled. As a matter of fact, he had been having a bad day. He had gone through a lot of trouble to devise the ugly disguise with Makeover Girl for nothing, he was missing Ayumi (although he didn't want to admit it), he had injured himself that morning during karate practice and had to have Bainbridge patch him up after that, he was feeling physically drained, Teacher Kim had given him a tedious lecture about the long-running naming dispute over the Sea of Japan, which is the sea that lies between Japan and Korea (South Korea said it should be called the "East Sea" instead while North Korea, not to be outdone, insisted that it should be called the "Korean East Sea"). He had then given Shinsou a crushing reminder about how the Koreans had suffered under the Japanese during the Second World War.

Kaneshiro sorted the papers into two piles, and then gave one to Ryoko and the other to Shinsou. They were the latest updates on North Korea from the Data Analysis Department, whose job in general was to study data and provide analyses on events and brief the Ministry of Justice whenever necessary. There were staff who regularly sifted through all the news and information on North Korea and extracted whatever they thought was relevant, and made it available for the agents.

Ryoko kept her papers away and hurried off, for she had a session with Makeover Girl coming up.

Shinsou removed his disguise and then started looking gloomily through the papers. "Why am I killing myself over all this," he thought bitterly, "I'm getting a lecture every other day in Korean on the evils of my countrymen, and it'll be a miracle if I come back alive from North Korea with those two lunatics. I should have joined a hero agency."

The fact that his trainee was looking defeated did not escape Kaneshiro; and he asked Shinsou if anything was the matter.

"I'm getting lectured almost every day by Teacher Kim about how evil our nation is, and I'm going to North Korea with an alcoholic and a neurotic," said Shinsou sourly, "What's there to be positive about?"

He half expected Kaneshiro to look stern and give him a lecture on the virtues of tolerance and being supportive to his team, but to his surprise, his supervisor just looked sympathetic.

"Well, most neighbouring countries have usually fought wars and been enemies with one another, at one time or another," Kaneshiro said thoughtfully, "That's not only true of Japan, Korea and China, but elsewhere in the world.

"And wounds often never heal, after these wars," he continued, "I would admit, some of the things that have been done were extreme. And it's true that life has been difficult for the Zainichi Koreans, here in Japan. Sometimes, when you encounter all this, you despair, wondering how you can put things right.

"But just remember," he looked at Shinsou, "we can't change the past. All we can do is move forward. It's not your responsibility to fix history. And as one individual, you can't fix an entire system, whether it's theirs or ours, or pull down a regime, like the one in North Korea. But if you want to make amends, what you can do is help, or even save, individual lives. When you're out in the field, your job is to look after Japan's interests; that should be your priority. But at the same time, during this first assignment, when you're over there, bear in mind the North Korean people, and what they suffer."

Shinsou was listening.

"I presume you're referring to Nakajima's girlfriend and daughter," he said.

Kaneshiro looked slightly surprised.

"Partly, yes," he said, "They need saving, too. You're a hero, aren't you? Perhaps even Nakajima needs saving."

Shinsou wondered if Kaneshiro had read Nakajima with his Quirk, and if so, what he had seen.

"Be careful what you do there," added Kaneshiro, "You might have read about how things are, over there, but sometimes it's easy to forget. People end up in a labour camp or dead for things you wouldn't even perceive as wrong here. Watch what you say while you're there. Especially to his daughter, since you'll presumably be spending more time with her."

"What sort of things?" asked Shinsou, beginning to feel rather alarmed.

"Anything," said Kaneshiro, "There are informants everywhere, and if someone overhears her saying something like 'the Supreme Leader is too young to run the country', it can end up being recorded down in her file. She won't know it until three years later when one of her friends defects, and the secret police use this complaint to investigate her."

Shinsou was silent. He took an empty folder out, and stuffed the data analysis papers into it.

"The Directorate library has videos on North Korea, and also interviews with defectors," remarked Kaneshiro, "You probably haven't had time to think of watching them, but you've a good half hour now before your next class. Why not have a look."

"All right," said Shinsou, glancing at his watch.

He got up to go, but then didn't know why he asked it. After all, Kaneshiro had told Nakajima that he was progressing enough to pass his probation. But it had been a bad day, and Shinsou wanted some encouragement.

"Kaneshiro-san," he said abruptly, "How am I doing? I mean, I know that I passed my probation; but I've been here for four months now. Am I doing all right?"

"You're making progress," said Kaneshiro noncommittally, "You can progress more."

"Progress more?" said Shinsou, "How?"

"Just keep trying harder, for everything," said Kaneshiro, with infuriating vagueness. And that was all he would say.

Shinsou wasn't going to give up, however. Kaneshiro's Quirk enabled him to see inside people, and his opinion mattered. Shinsou wanted the truth, even if it was to find out that he was appallingly bad.

He picked up the folder of documents from the table, and began making his way over to the door.

"Kaneshiro-san," he said, casually.

"Yes," said Kaneshiro, looking up from his table. His face went blank.

"What do you really think of me?" Shinsou asked slowly.

Kaneshiro's face became less blank, and more contemplative.

"I like you," he said reflectively, "You're young and a bit headstrong and, as I expected, rather uncooperative. But you have the heart and mind for this. I know what you've been doing on your own, on week nights and during weekends.

"You're doing well, better than I thought you would; but I'm not going to tell you, to push you harder. You think that you're weak because your Quirk isn't a physical one, but you're wrong. Your Quirk is extremely powerful, and you can do things which heroes with physical powers would never be able to do. You can go far. You're not ready to hear it yet, but when the time comes, I'll say this to you: fly high and higher, my friend, go far and farther ... make me proud."

Shinsou was silent, trying to absorb everything his supervisor had just said. All at once, his heart felt lighter.

He woke Kaneshiro up, and the latter looked at him expectantly. Shinsou searched around in his mind for some topic of conversation.

"Kaneshiro-san, the Shiramine sets sail from Niigata City," he said casually, "I suddenly recalled you telling me – that's your hometown, isn't it?"

To his astonishment, the normally serious Kaneshiro smiled broadly.

"Yes," he said, "it's a beautiful city. When you go there, if you have time, take a look around. Not only at the main sightseeing attractions, but the beaches, as well. Especially, go to Ikarashi Beach in the evening. There, you can watch the sun setting behind Sado Island. I have done that ever since I was a boy, and it has always brought me peace."

Shinsou nodded, trying not to look too surprised. He took his leave of Kaneshiro and left the room, making his way over to the elevator. As he headed for the Directorate library, he thought about what his supervisor had said. "Go far and farther," he said softly, to himself. He smiled. Suddenly, it looked as if it was going to be a good day, after all.


	8. The Shiramine

**8 THE SHIRAMINE**

Niigata City lay about two hours away from Tokyo by Shinkansen. The Shiramine Maru was docked at the West Port, located just adjacent to the city centre. Shinsou arrived in the late morning, and was surprised to see Kaneshiro waiting along the road near the port entrance, together with his wife and baby son.

Kaneshiro was, to all intents and purposes, busy showing his son the ships, but he turned his head slightly and gave Shinsou a small nod as he walked past. Shinsou knew that his supervisor had taken leave to return to his home city for a few days, and guessed that his actual motive was to see his trainees off on their first assignment.

The Shiramine was an ageing ferry that had been bought over by Chongryon the previous year, under the pretext that it wanted to bring its members out to the Sea of Japan once a month for a leisure cruise. The ship was supposedly capable of carrying two hundred passengers in forty cabins of different types, according to a brochure produced by Chongryon, and it offered a restaurant, two bars, a shop and other amenities including a sauna, slot machines, a shop and a karaoke room.

What the brochure failed to mention was that none of the above facilities was operating. The restaurant was closed; meals were to be taken in the dining room, which was decked out with North Korean flags and furnished with cheap plastic tables and chairs. The bars were not open, nor was the sauna or shop. Only the slot machines and karaoke room were functioning.

The crew consisted entirely of Zainichi Koreans, all of whom had been screened carefully by Chongryon to ensure that they were sympathetic to the regime in North Korea. They did, however, speak Japanese better than Korean, because they had been living in Japan all their lives; and this had greatly relieved Ryoko, whose Korean was still less than passable.

There were only a few new crew members, and the first thing they did was receive a briefing by the Chongryon official on board the ship, a man who went by the ubiquitous name of Kim.

He was a soft-spoken individual, but there was something sinister about him that made the crew give him their undivided attention. The rest of the crew referred to him as "Chongryon Kim", and whispered to one another that he actually belonged to the _Bowibu_ , or dreaded North Korean Secret Police.

"No doubt you already know," said Chongryon Kim, taking a drag on his cigarette and then blowing a generous amount of smoke into the faces of the newcomers, "the Shiramine is not going on a cruise, but to Wonsan. Our passengers are not on a leisure trip, but are going to visit their relatives in North Korea. The Japanese government suspects what we are doing. Any member of crew on board who is discovered leaking information about this will suffer consequences."

He picked up an umbrella that was lying on a rack nearby, and at the touch of his hand it promptly burst into flames. The crew members backed away, startled.

Chongryon Kim held on to the smouldering umbrella until it disintegrated into cinders. He then let it fall onto the floor.

"You're all new," he said softly to the crew members, "do you know why we needed to employ new staff? Some of the previous staff were suspected of leaking information. They suffered a similar fate as this umbrella, and so did their family members. Have a care not to end up going in the same manner." He let his cigarette fall to the ground, and stepped on it to extinguish it. "Clean up the mess," he said briefly, glancing at the charred umbrella. And then he walked off without another look at them.

Shinsou felt a light touch on his elbow. He turned, but there was no one there. However, someone presently spoke in his ear, and he realised that it was an invisible Nakajima.

"Volunteer to clean the mess up," he whispered, "Send the others away."

"I'll clear this," Shinsou said to the others, "Tell the First Mate I'll be along in a minute for his brief."

He went off and got a broom, and as he slowly swept the remains of the umbrella away, Nakajima said quietly to him, "I've checked the hold and there's nothing but bottled water there. Once the First Mate has briefed you and you've settled in, casually brainwash everyone, especially the Captain, Jang, the First Mate, Hwang, and this Chongryon devil, and find out if there's anything stowed away somewhere where we can't see it."

Shinsou nodded.

"I'll either be at the bow of the ship or in the hold, if you need to tell me anything," added Nakajima. And then he was gone.

Shinsou disposed of the remains of the umbrella, and then hurried off to join the others. By chance he met the First Mate, whose name was Hwang, on his way to the briefing. He greeted Hwang, and since they were alone, he brainwashed him.

Hwang didn't know of any illegal cargo stashed on board. Shinsou spied the crew's roster in his hand, and took the opportunity to check on his own duties. He was sharing a cabin with another deckhand, also surnamed Jang, whom he knew – from the other crewmembers' gossip – was the captain's nephew. The rest of the crew referred to him as "Lazy Jang", for he avoided work whenever he could, or did it badly. First Mate Hwang apparently often shouted at him, but to no avail. And the captain refused to sack him.

Shinsou saw that he himself was scheduled to do the eight to twelve lookout watch, meaning 0800 to 1200 hours and 2000 to 2400 hours. He also saw that he had been rostered to clean the toilets and empty the garbage, so he told the brainwashed Hwang to re-assign these to Lazy Jang, and to let him sweep and mop the deck instead, check on the bottled water in the hold, and regularly bring these up to distribute to the crew and passengers.

After the First Mate had briefed the newcomers, they had a look at their cabins. These had no beds, only mattresses on the floor. Water in the ship's bathrooms was unreliable, and when available, was brown, which explained the huge stash of water in the hold. The water was contained in large, industrial-looking plastic bottles, and it was one of the deckhands' jobs to regularly bring boxes of these up and distribute them, especially to the galley where the food was being prepared.

The next few hours were busy, preparing the ship for departure. Items had to be secured on deck and in the hold, and Shinsou had to help remove the gangway when the ship finally departed.

He couldn't suppress a surge of excitement as the Shiramine made its way out of the port and into the Sea of Japan. He had been preparing for months for this, and now they were finally on their way. Nakajima seemed sober enough at the moment, and even Ryoko had improved slightly in her scatterbrained ways. Shinsou entertained some dim hope that they would be able to survive this one trip, at any rate.

He had gone down to the hold earlier to check that the bottled water was lashed down securely. There was a pretty little brown and white dog there, which First Mate Hwang said was called Yoshi; he was the ship's mascot, and Hwang warned the deckhands not to disturb him. Yoshi considered the far end of the hold and everything within it his territory, including whatever bottled water happened to be placed there, and so the deckhands were not to touch the bottles there until all the others had run out, unless they wanted a hand or leg removed by the sharp teeth of Yoshi-chan.

Distributing the bottled water turned out to be useful for brainwashing. Shinsou managed to casually brainwash the captain and Chongryon Kim, but both said the Shiramine wasn't transporting anything illegal.

He managed to check on Ryoko as well, when he brought the bottled water to the galley. She was with another assistant cook, taking instructions from the chief cook. Her face brightened when she saw Shinsou with the trolley of bottled water, and she hurried over and brought him to a side room where the food supplies were stored.

"Ohh, did you see Kaneshiro-san near the entrance of the port just now?" was the first thing she said, breathlessly, "Oh he came to see us off! Oh it was so sweet of him! Did you see his wife? She's pretty, but nowhere near as good-looking as him! Oh, and his little boy looks just like him! – "

"I hope you didn't go running up to him," Shinsou interrupted, frowning.

"I did, actually," said Ryoko, blushing and looking guilty, "He looked stern and reminded me that I wasn't supposed to know him. But he told me to take my seasick pills before I left, so he can't have been that angry, can he?" She looked hopeful.

Shinsou looked exasperated. "Why don't you _think_ before you do these things?"

"Oh, I know, I know," she said dolefully, "I'll try harder." She looked pleadingly at Shinsou.

Shinsou wheeled the trolley to one side of the room, and deposited the bottles there, with Ryoko fussing around anxiously.

"This is a disgusting old tub, isn't it?" she whispered indignantly, "Only the passengers and senior crew have beds in their cabins! I'm sure our mattresses have bugs in them! And the water from the taps is awful! We're cooking and washing everything with these stupid bottles of water! Have you noticed they're not even sealed? I bet they're just normal empty bottles that have been filled with tap water on land!"

Shinsou hadn't realised this.

"I hope they're clean enough for consumption," he said, sceptically, examining one of the bottles. "Who knows where the water came from."

"Kaneyama-san's making us boil all of it first," said Ryoko, reassuringly. She gestured at an array of bottles nearby that contained boiled water.

"Is the chief cook Japanese?" asked Shinsou, referring to Kaneyama.

"He's a Zainichi Korean who's opted to use his _tsumei_ ," said Ryoko – most Zainichi Koreans had a _tsumei_ or Japanese name, as well as a Korean name – "It makes it easier for him to find employment in Japan that way. Chongryon Kim doesn't approve of him, though," her voice dropped to a whisper, "He thinks he's betrayed the Koreans by doing that."

"I hope you've been taking your shapeshifting medicine," added Shinsou, referring to Yoshida's hairs.

Ryoko's eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. She started feeling wildly around in her pockets, a worried look on her face. Shinsou, with a resigned expression, took a small container from his pocket, and extracted one strand of hair from it.

"You'd better be more vigilant," he said irritably, as she hurriedly swallowed the hair, "I may not be able to come to the galley regularly to check on you. If you give us away, I'm going to strangle you!"

"Yes, yes, I know," gulped Ryoko, "I'm so sorry!"

They were interrupted at this point by the other assistant cook. He was a small little man with glasses, and he had an annoyingly high-pitched voice and talked extremely fast.

"Jiyeon! There you are! Chief cook Kaneyama is wondering where you've gone off to! What are you doing here? Who's this?" He stared at Shinsou. "I saw the two of you talking in an intimate fashion! Are you having an illicit and secret relationship with another member of the crew?"

"Oh no, no, no, no, of course not," said Ryoko, going red and looking extremely guilty, "This is Han Young-jae; he's just the deckhand that brought the water up, that's all."

"Wellyouknowit'snotadvisabletogetinvolvedwithanothermemberofthecrew," said the assistant cook, talking even faster, "It'snotintherulesofcourse, butI'vereadupaboutit – "

"I'd best get going," said Shinsou, looking in bemusement at the small man, "I'll bring another load of water up in a while."

"Oh yes, yes, of course," said Ryoko, flustered. She hurried back into the kitchen. The little man gave Shinsou a hard stare, before turning and following her.

Dinner was at six, after which Shinsou had a bit of time before his lookout duty at eight, so he wandered out to the bow of the ship. The wind was blowing hard, and it was rather cold, since it was now early October. It was exhilarating standing near the prow, getting a feel of how fast the ship was moving, with the open sea stretching away around him.

He sensed something move slightly near him, and that he wasn't alone.

"Nakajima-san?" he said.

"I'm here," said Nakajima quietly. "You'd do well to remember I'm Han Kyungju, now that we've left Japan."

"Yes, sir," said Shinsou.

"Anything to report?" asked Nakajima.

"No," said Shinsou, "I've brainwashed almost everyone … the captain, first mate, incinerator Kim, and other crew … there doesn't seem to be anything except bottled water on board this ship."

"What about in the past, or in the future?" said Nakajima.

"I asked them that, too," said Shinsou, "They replied in the negative for the past, and didn't know of any future plans to transport anything unusual, either."

"All right, then," said Nakajima, "But it won't be the end of the assignment for us. Even if they're not smuggling anything now, it doesn't mean things won't change in the future. We'll probably have to monitor this ship for the next few months, at least."

Shinsou nodded. Kaneshiro had briefed him earlier on this.

"And keep an eye out," added Nakajima, "The ship's probably going to transform, soon. It'll be interesting to watch it happening."

"Yes, sir," said Shinsou. He had known about this from the reports that Watanabe, the covert operative based in Wonsan, had sent back to the Directorate. The Shiramine had been going out to sea for the past few months, but never had Watanabe or any of the other covert operatives based in North Korea ever seen it docked at Wonsan or other North Korean ports like Chongjin or Hungnam at those times. Instead, another vessel called the Kirogi had appeared at Wonsan.

Shinsou had asked the other deckhands about it, since the entire crew knew that they were going to North Korea. They had told him that Chongryon Kim had said that the Shiramine, a Japanese ship, could not be seen in North Korea. First Mate Hwang, the deckhands said, had a Quirk that could transform the appearance of the Shiramine so that it would be unrecognisable once it came into port. The captain normally waited until night fell and they had reached international waters before switching the ship's transponder off and telling Hwang to make the transformation.

"You'd best get going," said Nakajima, "Your watch is due to start."

Shinsou looked surprised, but Nakajima said, "I had a look at the rosters. And checked on Hirano. Keep an eye on her, will you? That pesky assistant cook with her is a busybody, and she's going to let something slip sooner or later."

Shinsou nodded again, and then left the bow. Being invisible certainly had its advantages, he thought. It was heartening to know that Nakajima seemed sober and alert and aware of what was going on.

Shinsou's watch was on the bridge, and it had hardly started when the transformation took place. Captain Jang casually had the transponder switched off, and then just said, "OK," to Hwang. Shinsou hardly even saw Hwang doing anything. So long as he was touching part of the ship, it seemed that he was able to effect the change.

There was no immediate obvious difference. The bridge and everything else on board the ship remained unmodified. Because it was night, Shinsou was only able to appreciate the change the next day, when he saw the ship in daylight. The outer hull had changed colour from white to black, and the name of the ship had now become _Kirogi_ , with the Korean words in Hangul positioned below the romanized letters.

Otherwise, the remaining four hours of Shinsou's night watch passed uneventfully. The watch objective was mainly to keep a lookout for other ships in the vicinity in order to avoid collisions (especially now that their transponder had been switched off), or for anything else unusual in the water that might pose a hazard to the ship. Shinsou had been paired with a senior watchstander since he was new, and so things were quite relaxed. The senior allowed him to go outside onto the bridge wing occasionally to get some fresh air and stretch his legs, or even take some time off to walk around the deck.

The next morning passed uneventfully, with another watch from eight to twelve. After lunch, Shinsou was dutifully mopping the deck when he found Lazy Jang lying in a corner, snoring.

He woke Lazy Jang and brainwashed him, and made him do the mopping. He was standing by, looking out over the expanse of blue that was the Sea of Japan, when Ryoko, her face green, came running over to the side of the ship, and threw up.

"Oh dear," she moaned, when she saw Shinsou, "I feel horrible."

Shinsou glanced around, but nobody else was on deck except them and Lazy Jang. He didn't think it a good idea for too many people to notice that he and Ryoko knew each other.

"What's happened to your seasick pills?" he asked, not looking too sympathetic.

"They don't seem to be working any more," she groaned, sitting down on the floor of the deck, "I feel ghastly. Absolutely ghastly."

"And I hope you've been taking your hairs," added Shinsou, sitting down next to her.

"I did," she moaned, "Luckily they seem to have stayed down."

"Aren't you supposed to be doing something now?" enquired Shinsou.

"No, I'm on a rest break," she said, her face looking greener than ever, "Kaneyama sent me out here to get some fresh air."

They were interrupted at this point by the furtive small person of the other assistant cook.

"Aha, Jiyeon! There you are!" he exclaimed triumphantly, spotting her, "I have been searching all around for you!"

"Oh no," moaned Ryoko, "No, no, no, no, don't come and add to my misery."

"Who's this?" said the assistant cook, glaring at Shinsou, "it's your deckhand boyfriend again, isn't it?" He looked jealous.

"Don't be silly," said Ryoko wearily, "and stop following me around. You're making me feel more ill. Go and … and do something else, admire the view of the Sea of Japan, or something!"

"Ohh, you called it Sea of Japan!" said the assistant cook, looking shocked, "You should call it the East Sea! You're not a true Korean!"

Ryoko had clapped her hand over her mouth, but Shinsou said mildly, "East Sea, Sea of Japan, it's the same sea. It's not a big deal, and not worth arguing over."

The assistant cook adopted a militant posture.

"ThenameEastSeahasbeenusedmuchlongerthanSeaofJapan!" he began shrilly, "AttheSixthUnitedNationsConferenceontheStandardization ofGeographicalNames, itwasdisclosedthat – " His face went blank.

"Go back to the galley and make yourself useful there," said Shinsou, looking bored.

The little man obediently turned around, and made his way back across the deck.

"Who _is_ this guy?" asked Shinsou, watching as he disappeared.

"His name is Lee Sang-hun," said Ryoko, with an expression of despair on her face, "He's the other assistant cook. He keeps following me around!"

"Maybe he likes you," commented Shinsou.

"Well, I don't like him," said Ryoko flatly, "He's so irritating! He keeps showing off and spouting stuff, trying to appear knowledgeable!"

"What sort of stuff?" asked Shinsou.

"Oh … politics, history, that sort of thing," said Ryoko distractedly, "Like that United Nations stuff he was spouting just now. He seems to know a lot about it … although," she admitted, "I guess if he's making it all up, I'd be too dumb to know."

Shinsou spotted some other members of crew appearing in the distance. Lazy Jang had finished mopping, so he retrieved the mop from him and made him walk some distance away before waking him up.

"I'm off," he said to Ryoko, "it won't do if people keep seeing that we know each other."

She nodded miserably, then jumped up all of a sudden and ran to the side of the ship to throw up again.

.

.

Theirs was a journey of approximately twenty-eight hours. The ship had left Niigata City at four in the afternoon, and so it was early evening by the time the North Korean coast was finally sighted. Shinsou happened to be up on deck at that moment, and there were no words to quite describe his feelings when he first saw the dark smudge of land on the horizon. He had heard so many grim tales about that country, and had spent so many months preparing for this mission, and here they were now, finally reaching their destination.

And so it came to be, that at eight o'clock that evening, the black ferry Kirogi finally sailed into the harbour, and docked at the port of Wonsan.


	9. (Part 2 NORTH KOREA) Wonsan

**l**

* * *

 **~ C.R.O.S.S.I.N.G ~ T.H.E ~ E.A.S.T ~ S.E.A ~**

* * *

 ** **P.A.R.T. T.W.O****

 **N.O.R.T.H K.O.R.E.A**

* * *

 **9 WONSAN**

When the Kirogi docked at Wonsan, port officials immediately came on board to examine passports and luggage. The twenty Zainichi Korean passengers were duly checked and brought on shore, accompanied by Chongryon Kim. They were mostly elderly Koreans living in Japan who still felt a close affiliation with their kin in North Korea, unlike the younger generation of Zainichi Koreans. Their relatives had already been brought to Wonsan, and were waiting for them at an undisclosed location. They would be given thirty-six hours to spend with them, after which they would come back to the port again and return to Japan.

The crew of the Kirogi would be staying on board the ship, in the meantime. The captain wasn't willing to grant anyone shore leave for such a short journey. Shore leave, he said, was for sailors who had been at sea for weeks; but the journey from Niigata City to Wonsan had lasted barely more than a day. It would have been impossible for anyone to go ashore, anyway, because in North Korea it was illegal for foreigners to move around on their own without a government minder, someone who would keep a sharp eye on you and see that you only went to approved places, and didn't mix with any of the locals.

Shinsou at first received this piece of news with elation: here was the perfect excuse to give Nakajima as to why he couldn't help him with his personal affairs – the captain would not grant him shore leave!

Shortly after the Zainichi Korean passengers had departed, Shinsou, who happened to be near the gangway, saw a group of four men trying to board the ship. The deckhand on gangway watch was about to stop them when the captain appeared, and waved them in.

"Who are they?" Shinsou asked one of the other deckhands.

"They always come to remove the mineral water from the hold," said the deckhand, "Didn't you notice? The bottles the dog is guarding are good mineral water, not the large, industrial-type bottles found in the rest of the hold that we've been distributing. They belong to a popular brand in Japan, and can probably be sold to the elite in Pyongyang for a good price. The upper class there think it's stylish to drink mineral water imported from abroad. The captain probably gets a cut of the profits for bringing it over."

Shinsou hadn't noticed that the bottled water in Yoshi's part of the hold was in proper sealed bottles. He thought it odd that anyone could make a good profit out of something like mineral water. He watched as the men started pushing crates out on trolleys.

"Doesn't Yoshi-chan bite them?" he asked.

"Nah," said the deckhand, shrugging, "They give him some treat – dog biscuits, or something. And he usually stops acting territorial whenever he sees that the ship has reached its destination."

Shinsou watched as the men loaded the crates onto a truck near the wharf and drove off.

He wondered where Nakajima was, and whether his supervisor would make him brainwash the captain into letting him go onshore. However, Shinsou soon discovered that Nakajima, who was a seasoned veteran when it came to operating in North Korea, had already arranged everything.

The next morning Shinsou was partnered with another deckhand to do gangway watch duty, since he was new. He hadn't been there long when a burly individual, armed with several documents and attired in the dark suit often worn by government minders, came up the gangway. The senior deckhand checked the documents, and then hurried off to get the captain, a frightened look on his face. The minder was carrying a letter signed by the local head of the secret police, or _Bowibu_.

Captain Jang's face went pale when he saw the letter, and he glared at Shinsou.

"Your aunt's brother-in-law's cousin is the local _Bowibu_ head?" he said hoarsely, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Er – " said Shinsou, but the government minder interrupted.

"We have to get going," he grunted, "His relatives are waiting to see him. Hurry up and grant him the shore leave. I'll bring him back tonight."

Captain Jang barked at Shinsou to change and get his things, and before he knew it, the burly minder was ushering him across the gangway.

Shinsou's companion was silent until they had walked some distance out of sight of the ship, and then he heard Nakajima's voice say quietly, "Thanks, Watanabe."

The minder grimaced. "The things I do for you."

Shinsou looked at the minder in surprise.

"Shinsou," said the invisible Nakajima, "This is Keiji Watanabe, our covert op here in Wonsan. His Korean alias is Kang Heon-woo."

"Shinsou?" said Watanabe, raising his eyebrows, "What's your Korean name, supposed son of Nakajima?"

"It's in the documents you forged, you idiot," said Nakajima, "Han Young-jae."

Watanabe chuckled.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he informed Shinsou.

"How did you get those documents?" asked Shinsou, curiously.

"I managed to duplicate a set I came across," said Watanabe, "It's my Quirk, Duplication. I then modified the papers. The Bowibu one was easy enough to forge. I started out in Support in the Directorate, forging documents, but then somehow got moved into covert ops."

"Where did you get that minder's outfit?" enquired Nakajima.

"I met a minder some time ago who was about the same size as me," said Watanabe, shrugging, "I managed to duplicate one of his suits."

They had slowed their pace, and Watanabe led them into an abandoned building.

"Here," he said, producing a short length of rope and letting Nakajima take it, "time to make us disappear."

"Are you sure the secret police haven't started using infrared goggles here?" asked Nakajima. Invisible people could still be detected using infrared.

"Fairly sure," said Watanabe, "People with invisibility Quirks have mostly defected. The _Bowibu_ stopped using them years ago because they simply never detected anyone with them, and it wasn't worth it. Those goggles are expensive."

In North Korea, people were generally not allowed to move freely within the country. They could travel within the city or town that they were living in, but to move from one city to another, a permit was needed.

For this reason, people with Quirks that enabled them to come and go without detection – such as the power of invisibility, or the ability to teleport or fly – were seen as a threat by the government, and they were closely monitored. Any infringement of the law committed by them meant immediate death or sentencing to a labour camp, together with all the members of their family. As a result, most North Koreans with such Quirks tended to defect, something that was easy enough for them to do, given their Quirks. They would forge a death certificate first so that their family members would not be punished for their defection. Or else they kept their Quirks secret, claiming to be Quirkless; but this was risky, for they would be executed immediately if they were discovered.

Shinsou took one end of the rope, and promptly found himself vanishing. Nakajima was holding the rope in the middle, with the other two holding the rope ends.

"Since we're foreigners, it's better that no one sees us wandering around Wonsan without a minder as far as possible," he informed Shinsou, "Watanabe's not going to wear that minder's outfit all day. And it's easier making people invisible using the rope. After all, we don't want to go around holding hands, do we?"

"I can hold your hand," said Watanabe, playfully.

"Shut up, you disgusting old sod," said Nakajima, irritated.

"Where are we going?" asked Shinsou.

"We're bringing this rascal to visit his old flame, of course," said Watanabe irreverently, "she'd be at the restaurant now."

"What, is it open, at this hour?" asked Nakajima, sounding surprised.

"The restaurant's at Dongmyong Hotel," explained Watanabe, "so it opens from early morning, to serve breakfast for the guests staying there."

Shinsou found it quite odd being invisible. He couldn't tell if he was putting his feet in the right place, and they had to move to one side whenever they saw someone else coming along. Nakajima would usually tug the rope in the direction he wanted them to go, and Shinsou got used to it after a while. He had been looking around ever since they'd left the ship. It was odd to think that they were really in North Korea, at last.

The streets were clean and in reasonable condition, but were strangely empty. There were hardly any cars on the roads, simply because the locals were too poor to afford them. People moved around mostly on foot or on bicycles. In fact, there were so few cars that people tended to walk around as freely on the roads as on the pavement.

The surrounding buildings were largely dull concrete structures, utilitarian in appearance. Propaganda posters could be seen all over the place, many emblazoned with the image of the Supreme Leader. Trees lined the roads, and an occasional park softened the continuum of concrete blocks.

People were mostly dressed in dull colours like blue and black, thanks to the presence of the "Fashion Police". However, there were still a few decked out in brighter colours, for North Koreans, especially the young, had become more daring lately when it came to breaking rules. These were mostly the more affluent, for they were able to bribe the Fashion Police into letting them off.

Watanabe was talking to Nakajima. "Did you check on the ship's cargo?"

"Yes," said Nakajima, "I had a look inside all the crates, even those the dog was guarding. There wasn't anything but bottled water there."

"How did you get past the dog?" asked Shinsou.

"Distracted it with some meat I pinched from the kitchen," answered Nakajima. "Have you found out where those men bring those crates?" This question was addressed to Watanabe.

"In case you're wondering what we're talking about, son of Nakajima," Watanabe said to Shinsou, "I've been keeping watch every time the Kirogi comes in, and although I didn't know what was in the crates that those men load onto the truck, I've tried following them every time they were taken away, but without much luck. After driving about a mile the truck stops, and there's some chap with a Warp Gate Quirk who teleports them away."

"Warp Gate Quirk?" said Nakajima, "That's interesting. Who is he?"

A Warp Gate Quirk was considered to be one of the high surveillance Quirks, and it was unusual that the person in possession of it hadn't defected yet.

"Don't know," Watanabe was saying, "it's always night then, and I haven't been able to get close enough to get a good look, even with infrared binoculars. For all we know, it could be that bastard Choe Yong-gon. The slippery old fox has managed to keep his Quirk a secret until now. If it's him, he has his face covered with a hood. Anyway, if it's just bottled water, there's not much point, is there?"

"We don't know whether it's always bottled water that's in the crates," Nakajima pointed out, "I'll come with you next time, and make us invisible so that we can have a closer look at them. Have you seen if anything else gets removed from the Kirogi, other than those crates on the first night?"

"No, nothing," said Watanabe, "I install a camera nearby for constant surveillance of the ship every time it comes into port."

They had been walking along the coast, and soon came to Dongmyong Hotel. It was old and rather faded-looking, with a large garden. There was a pier leading out into the sea to a lighthouse right next to it.

"Youngjae," said Nakajima, "You haven't got enough of a North Korean accent to pass off as a born-and-bred local yet. So don't forget, you're a Zainichi Korean who's moved back to North Korea. If anyone asks, don't pretend that you're jobless. Say that you're a sailor working on a ship that's come to port. It's illegal not to have a job in North Korea."

"Yes, Nakajima-san," said Shinsou. He had already discussed this with Kaneshiro. There was no such thing as a jobless person in North Korea, because the government assigned jobs to everyone.

Watanabe gave a short bark of laughter.

"For crying out loud, boy," he exclaimed, "you're supposed to be talking to your father!"

"Yes, Otosan," corrected Shinsou. He was wondering whether to say _Abeoji_ instead, but after all, they were speaking Japanese.

"I thought Senpai had gone mad when he told me," said Watanabe – Shinsou figured out after a while that he usually called Nakajima "Senpai", probably more because it was an old joke between them rather than out of respect – "that he was going to make his latest trainee masquerade as his son."

Shinsou wanted to say that he thought Nakajima was mad, too.

Nakajima, being used to Watanabe, chose to ignore this. He had evidently been to Dongmyong Hotel before, because he made straight for a secluded spot where no one would see them, and allowed all of them to become visible again. This was the first time Shinsou had seen him since they had left Japan, and he saw that Nakajima was in disguise. He had done a fairly good job with the makeup and prosthetics; although he couldn't hide the fact that he was a large man, his face and hair looked quite different from his real self.

Watanabe, to Shinsou's surprise, was now wearing ordinary clothes. He had somehow changed out of the minder's uniform while being invisible. He was looking at Nakajima warningly. "I've told Soojin we'll be dropping by today. As I've told you before, she isn't the sweet young thing you knew in the past."

"I'm prepared," said Nakajima, drily.

"Youngjae," said Watanabe, as they made their way into the hotel and up the stairs to the restaurant on the second floor, "I'm told that your Quirk is brainwashing. Tell the manageress to give us the private room, will you? The hotel staff normally only open it for guests who look wealthy."

They entered the restaurant, which had quite a nice view of the sea. There were three waitresses serving the hotel guests, but Shinsou was too busy trying to summon up enough Korean to brainwash the manageress to wonder which was Park Soojin.

The manageress was quite easy to identify because she had a smart jacket on, and was strutting around importantly in it. Shinsou swiftly wished her good morning before she could say a word, and brainwashed her when she responded. To make things simpler for himself, he simply said to her in Korean, "Do whatever these two men with me ask you to do."

"Good," muttered Watanabe. He instructed the manageress to bring them to the private room, and to send the waitress Park Soojin to them.

Shinsou knew that Park Soojin must be in her forties, but when she entered, holding a couple of menus, he saw that she had retained her good looks and figure. There was, however, a hardness in her face which spoiled her beauty. Shinsou glanced at Nakajima to see his reaction, but his supervisor's face was impassive.

She came up to them without much expression, and Shinsou realised that she couldn't recognise anyone, because Watanabe as well as Nakajima was in disguise.

"Soojin-ya, it's me," said Watanabe, in Japanese.

"Keiji-san?" she said, startled. She looked at Shinsou, confused, obviously wondering who he was. Then she looked at Nakajima, realising who he must be.

"And this is me," said Nakajima mildly, "Keiji-san says he's told you our real occupations. I'm sorry we're not able to appear as our real selves."

Park Soojin did not look pleased to see him.

"That's a good way to start the conversation, after not having seen each other for years," she said coldly, "Why have you come?"

"To see you," said Nakajima.

She smiled, not very pleasantly.

"You've seen me, now," she said.

"Yes," said Nakajima evenly, "You still look good." And then he added, "Which is more than can be said about me, if you could see the real thing."

She looked at him, and her eyes softened. Shinsou wondered if Watanabe had told her about his medical condition.

"Well, you've seen me now," she then said again, haughtily, "so now you've done what you came here to do."

"I've come to see my daughter, as well," said Nakajima. He paused, and then looked reproachful. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"

"Would it have made any difference?" asked Park Soojin, her face darkening.

"It might," said Nakajima, quietly.

She looked angry.

"So, only having a daughter mattered," she said bitterly, "On my own, I wasn't reason enough to make you marry me."

"It wasn't so simple," said Nakajima, "You now know what my real occupation was. It would have been difficult for me to marry a non-citizen."

She gave a short laugh.

"I thought it such a coincidence," she said, "your daughter's going to follow in your footsteps!"

"So I heard," said Nakajima, keeping his voice steady, "and I'm here to see if I can't do something about that, as well."

"Do?" said Park Soojin, staring at him, "What can you do?"

"I didn't just come to see the both of you," said Nakajima, "I came to make amends."

At this point, Watanabe jerked his head in the direction of the door and said quietly to Shinsou, "Let's give them some privacy."

They left Nakajima and Park Soojin alone together, and went back into the main restaurant. There weren't that many people dining at the moment, since it was already late morning. Watanabe spotted a thin man sitting at a table at the far end of the room, and made his way over to him.

"Youngjae, this is Titus Choi, my so-called 'boss' here in Wonsan," he said quietly to Shinsou, in Korean. They were some distance from the other diners, so there wasn't much chance of being overheard. "He runs a tour agency here, and I'm 'working' as one of his tour bus drivers. But the agency is just a front. He's actually a missionary who holds clandestine prayer services in obscure places on the side."

Titus stood up, and he and Shinsou bowed to each other.

"Titus-ssi only speaks English and Korean," added Watanabe, after they had all sat down at the table and ordered some coffee, "Are you able to follow if we converse in Korean?"

"A little," said Shinsou, cautiously.

"Stop us if you're lost, and I'll translate into Japanese," said Watanabe.

Shinsou nodded.

"Youngjae-ssi," said Titus very quietly, "As Heonwoo-ssi mentioned, I'm actually a Korean-American missionary. I've been here for many years, and I've helped a few of our North Korean prayer group members to defect. I got to know Heonwoo-ssi by chance, and when I discovered he has a duplicating Quirk, I would occasionally ask him to help me forge some of the papers the defectors might need to cross the border. That was how we came to know each other, and I eventually asked him to work in my tour agency. I only found out much later that he is a Japanese agent. He waited a long time before deciding he could trust me, and he only told me because he was hoping I could help your friends Soojin and Yeonha to defect."

"I see," said Shinsou.

"In the past, it was easier for someone to defect," continued Titus, "you just needed to raise enough money to bribe your way through. There are brokers, too, who will get you out of the country for a fee. But the government has been cracking down hard on anyone who defects or helps others to defect. There are informants everywhere, and it's a lot more difficult and dangerous, now. The brokers' fees have become enormously high, so that it has become difficult for people to raise the required amount of money."

"I only approached Titus about the defection because I feel Soojin and Yeonha should go to the U.S.," said Watanabe, looking at Shinsou, "if we wanted to resettle them in Japan or South Korea, Nakajima could probably handle it. Titus can arrange for them to seek asylum in the States, as he has with the other defectors he's helped. He's gotten to know Soojin and Yeonha over the past year, and they've been occasionally attending some of his prayer meetings.

"Right now, there are several American missionaries who have been detained here, in North Korea," Watanabe continued, "Titus has some contacts looking for some way to help them escape from prison, and if they succeed it'll be Titus's job to get them out of the country and back to the U.S. If he manages to do that, then I'm hoping that he can bring our two ladies over, at the same time."

"But we would first have to persuade them to leave," added Titus, "Soojin told me she had a very hard time when she came over to North Korea. She spoke more Japanese than Korean, and whatever Korean she knew was different from the locals. She was ostracized, and was constantly reminded of her lack of a proper accent and rich revolutionary vocabulary. Even now she feels isolated, and hates people discovering that she is a Zainichi Korean from Japan."

"She doesn't speak English, and has become hesitant about going to the U.S.," added Watanabe, "In the past, she didn't mind going because she was young and she planned to go with Nakajima, who would have taken care of her. But she got played out by Choe Yong-gon when she came here, and North Korea didn't turn out to be what she hoped it would be. She's afraid the same thing will happen all over again if she goes to the U.S., especially if she goes there without anyone she knows to take care of her and Yeonha, and no knowledge of the language at all, this time."

"I've told her that I'd help her seek asylum, and settle her in and put her under the care of members of my church back in California," said Titus, "There's a large Korean-American community there. And there are also organisations set up by other North Korean defectors which help fresh defectors establish new lives in the U.S. But Soojin feels that Choe also promised her many things before coming here, and it turned out to be all deception; she's not willing to trust anyone that tells her similar things now."

"But Nakajima's here now," Shinsou pointed out, "He would probably be willing to accompany them to the U.S."

"Yes," said Watanabe, "but as you've seen, she's given him a rather cold reception. She probably won't trust him not to play her out as well. He's going to have to put in some effort to win her trust back."

"Youngjae-ssi," said Titus, looking earnestly at Shinsou, "Heonwoo-ssi told me about your Quirk, and so I came here to meet you partly to ask if you would aid us, should we need help getting Soojin and Yeonha out of the country."

Shinsou was reluctant to commit himself. He tried to summon up enough vocabulary in Korean to make his point clear to Titus.

"I have to think of Japan's interests first," he finally said in Japanese to Watanabe, "My first priority is the Shiramine. I can't do anything that would compromise Japan or the success of the assignment. Especially if this is also going to involve the escape of American prisoners."

"You're totally correct," said Watanabe approvingly, "and I'll be around as well. I'm not going to let him ask you to do anything that would compromise us. Besides, we don't even know whether Titus will need your help, in the end."

He translated Shinsou's concerns to Titus in Korean, and the missionary smiled and nodded.

"How does Yeonha feel about defecting?" asked Shinsou in Korean, "and what is she like?"

"She's different from her mother," answered Titus, "for one thing, she's from a different generation. In the past, the population here were brainwashed into believing that the government was all-powerful and omnipotent, and that the Supreme Leader was like a god. But that changed some years ago because there were floods and a terrible famine, and more than a million people died. It was a disaster, and it became obvious to the people that the government was in fact quite fallible and couldn't provide for them."

"The floods destroyed all the crops and a large part of the infrastructure in the country," added Watanabe, "The government itself is almost broke. There used to be a state-run food distribution system, but that had to stop, and people starved. People didn't have basic necessities. Salaries are now too low to survive on. Almost everyone now knows that they can't rely on the government any more, and have side jobs, trading and selling in illegal markets and smuggling things into the country. Unlike the older folk, Yeonha comes from a generation of young North Koreans who have the perception that they have never received anything from the regime."

"She also speaks Korean fluently, unlike her mother," said Titus, "She knows Japanese as well, because she speaks that to her mother at home. And Choe Yong-gon wants her to be a spy, so when she graduated from high school he put her in a Foreign Languages School so that she could learn English. She's studying there now. When she graduates she'll be taken in by the SSD– that's the State Security Department, which does most of the surveillance here – and groomed to be an intelligence agent."

"Does she want to be one?" asked Shinsou, with interest.

"No," said Watanabe, suddenly looking extremely tickled, "she wants to be an aeroplane pilot!"

"Pilot?" said Titus, astonished.

"It started with the Wonsan Air Festival," said Watanabe, chortling in amusement, "the first one was held several years ago. All those aircraft flying around, doing low fly-bys and acrobatic stunts. Of course, to me most of them were old and dated, but she thought they were wonderful."

"It's unwise for her to have an ambition, though," said Titus seriously, "most people here don't bother to think about what they're going to be, since they have no choice in the matter. She'll just be disappointed in the end."

"Well, people can't help feeling a certain way, sometimes," said Watanabe, "anyway, all the more she should want to defect then, so that she can realise her dream." He passed some money to Titus to pay for the coffee, and then looked at Shinsou. "Let's go back in and see if those two in there haven't killed each other yet."

Nakajima and Park Soojin were still very much alive, and were standing near the door, talking about their daughter.

"She takes after you," Park Soojin was saying disapprovingly, "She has the same Quirk as you. We've kept it secret, of course."

"She has?" said Nakajima, his face brightening. Evidently this was news to him, and his eyes shone with pride.

Park Soojin looked at him, and some of the hardness went out of her face.

"Why did you choose the name Yeonha?" Nakajima asked.

"Well," she hesitated, "So that I could call her Yuna at home. It sounds almost the same. We speak Japanese at home, you know." She flushed.

Nakajima looked baffled. "But why would you want to call her that?"

"Because," she said softly, "Yuna is a name that can be found in many different languages, including Japanese, and …"

She stopped. Nakajima looked at her, and he smiled, suddenly.

"And you wanted her to have a Japanese name, because she is half-Japanese," he finished.

Park Soojin said nothing, but looked at him, and Shinsou thought that she looked a little sad. Then she took a piece of paper and a pencil out, and wrote something down on it.

"Come around seven," she said abruptly, handing the paper to Nakajima, "It'll be after dinner. We normally eat at six." Then she picked the menus up, and went out of the room.

Nakajima looked at the piece of paper, and then put it into his pocket. When they came out of the private room, Titus had disappeared.

Park Soojin was serving some of the other customers, and no longer took any notice of them. Nakajima nodded at Shinsou and Watanabe, and they made their way out of the hotel, and back into the empty and carless streets of Wonsan.


	10. Yeonha

**10 YEONHA**

Since they were only going to visit Park Soojin in the evening, Nakajima proposed that the three of them – Watanabe, Shinsou and himself – spend the afternoon having a look around the city.

Wonsan was unlike other cities in North Korea, in that it had long been a holiday resort, and even the Supreme Leader had a luxurious Family Palace located by the sea there. The government had ambitious (and unrealistic) plans to develop it into a major tourist zone, and this included the redevelopment of the old city centre. The entire city area was to be evacuated, knocked down and completely rebuilt, and there were plans to introduce towering, futuristic structures which mirrored the ones that had been built in the capital, Pyongyang.

As far as Shinsou could see, the only building that looked as if it had been successfully completed so far was Wonsan Hotel, located right on the water's edge. According to an effusive brochure which they took from the hotel lobby, it was supposed to be a " _5-star skyscraping hotel, with architecture like the_ _pilothouse of a large vessel sailing an ocean_ ".

"It looks impressive," Nakajima remarked, but Watanabe gave a guffaw.

"The electricity's still unreliable," he said, "The elevators break down regularly, and there's often no hot water. Hopefully they'll fix things by the time the Air Festival comes around next September. There should be guests a-plenty staying here around that time."

Otherwise, the remaining grand edifices that had been planned mostly remained unbuilt, or half-built. These included towering office blocks, an international financial complex, a cultural centre, history museum and an exhibition centre.

"He's ambitious, isn't he?" commented Nakajima, who had just finished reading the summary from the brochure out loud for the benefit of the others. He was referring to North Korea's Supreme Leader, who had a penchant for building expensive prestige projects, while the rest of the nation starved.

"He's mad," said Watanabe with conviction, "and his madness hasn't much method in it. Masikryong Ski Resort and Kalma Airport are another two lavish projects that have been languishing in idleness ever since they were completed."

As evening approached, Watanabe brought them to a _jangmadang_ , one of the markets that had popped up all over the country after the famine. These jangmadang were actually illegal, for they were considered private enterprises in a country where everything was run by the state; but the government tolerated them because it was too broke to provide for the population, and the only way people could survive was by setting up businesses such as selling street food and daily necessities, or providing services such as bicycle repair, at these markets.

They had dinner at the jangmadang, which was located not too far from Park Soojin's apartment, after which Watanabe took his leave of them.

"I'll meet you back at the port later and escort you back to the ship," he informed Shinsou, before he left.

Park Soojin's apartment was located in a poorer part of Wonsan, where the buildings all looked rather decrepit. There were ten storeys in her block, and Soojin and her daughter lived on the top floor. Power failures were frequent in North Korea (although electricity in Wonsan was a bit more reliable because it was a popular holiday resort); and so in general the poorer you were, the higher up you lived, because the elevator could never be relied on to be working all the time.

Nakajima made himself and Shinsou invisible before they approached the building. All North Koreans had to belong to neighbourhood units called _inminban_ , each of which contained an informer who spied for the secret police; hence it seemed prudent to prevent any of the other flat-dwellers from noticing their visit, especially as the ultimate aim was to get Park Soojin and her daughter to defect.

Soojin answered the door. She was evidently used to Nakajima's Quirk, for she didn't blink an eye when she didn't see anyone outside. She simply quietly stood to one side so that they could enter, and then quickly closed the door.

Nakajima made himself and Shinsou visible again, and placed the rope in his pocket. The apartment was small and cramped, and sparsely furnished. The visitors didn't look much at their surroundings, though, because Yeonha was seated on one of the chairs in the living room, waiting for them, and their attention was on her.

"Yuna-ya, this is Eomma's old friend from Japan, Han Kyungju, and his son, Young-jae," said Park Soojin, in Japanese. "They are Zainichi Koreans, like us, and they are sailors. Their ship has docked here, and this is their first time visiting Wonsan."

Yeonha stood up. She was slim and pretty, with short, wavy black hair and eyes, and there was something innocent and appealing about her. She resembled her mother, but lacked the hard look that had become habitual on her mother's face.

Her eyes were wide, because she had seen them materialise in the room, and she had never seen anyone else with an invisibility Quirk like her own.

" _Abeonim_ , _oppa_ ," she greeted them, bowing.

Nakajima raised his eyebrows, and Park Soojin smiled.

"You find it strange, don't you," she said, "We speak Japanese at home, but address each other in Korean. I used to do that with my parents, in Japan, and we do the same here."

"I suppose it's a good compromise," he said drily, and looked at Yeonha. "How are you finding school, Yeonha?"

"All right," she said, rather shyly, as they all sat down.

"I hear that you're learning Japanese and English there," said Nakajima, "No doubt you find the Japanese easy?"

"There's more to learn than what I know from speaking at home," she said hesitantly, "but it was easier than English, at first."

"Her English has improved, though," commented Park Soojin in a rather disapproving tone, "because she keeps going to the neighbour's to watch illegal DVDs."

Yeonha went pink, but she gave a rather guilty smile.

"Everyone does it nowadays, I hear," said Nakajima, mildly. He took a package out of his pocket, and without much ceremony, gave it to Yeonha. "Here, Yeonha, this is a present for you."

Park Soojin looked surprised, as did Yeonha. She accepted the gift with both hands, and then looked enquiringly at her mother.

"You can open it," said Nakajima, smiling slightly.

She tore the wrapper off, and then gave a cry of delight.

Shinsou leaned forward to look. It was a book about different types of aircraft, in Korean.

Park Soojin frowned.

"Seijiro-san," she said reprovingly, "what is this?"

"Heon-woo says that she likes airplanes," said Nakajima innocently, "He suggested I get it for her. It was quite easy, ordering it from Amazon."

Yeonha looked up quickly. "Abeonim knows _samchon_?" Watanabe was like an uncle to her, for she had known him ever since she was a child, and with her mother's clients always visiting the apartment, he was one of the few men in her life whom she trusted.

"We're old friends," said Nakajima. "Do you like the book?"

"I love it!" she breathed, "Thank you, abeonim!"

"You shouldn't encourage her," said Park Soojin, still looking disapproving, "she's been hankering to be a pilot ever since Kalma airport opened. Girls here aren't supposed to think about such things. And you know that she's due to be recruited by the SSD. Besides, the book is obviously a South Korean product. It'll be no good if anyone catches her with it."

"There's nothing that can't be settled with a few yuan, nowadays," said Nakajima, placidly.

Park Soojin looked at Shinsou, who had been sitting quietly, trying to assume his vapid persona.

"This morning was the first time I'd seen your 'son', Seijiro-san," she remarked – Shinsou had the impression that she was trying to distract Nakajima's attention away from Yeonha – "he doesn't look much like you."

"Not a bit," said Nakajima, appearing quite unconcerned, "he takes after his mother." He looked at Yeonha again. "I hear that Wonsan has an Air Show every two years. What is it like?"

Shinsou suddenly felt a sharp surge of emotion in his mind. He looked around. Park Soojin was frowning, staring at Nakajima disapprovingly.

That afternoon, as they walked around Wonsan, Nakajima and Watanabe had been discussing Park Soojin's Quirk. She possessed a weak telepathy, but had never really been able to use it to do anything significant, and because she couldn't control it very well, she sometimes projected her own thoughts and feelings onto others without realising it. Watanabe had brought the subject up because he felt it hadn't been good for Yeonha, who had often been able to feel her mother's frustration and depression while growing up.

Yeonha was about to answer Nakajima, looking enthusiastic, but before she could speak, Park Soojin interrupted.

"Yuna-ya, bring Youngjae-oppa downstairs," she said, "Abeonim and I would like some private time together."

Shinsou's heart sank. He could tell that Park Soojin considered Nakajima to be a bad influence on their daughter, and she was now taking measures to separate the two of them. He inwardly cursed Nakajima for insisting on talking about aircraft. If they had passed the entire evening inside the apartment, Shinsou probably wouldn't have needed to talk to Yeonha at all.

The happy look on Yeonha's face vanished, and she glanced from her mother to Nakajima, startled and confused.

"Soojin, there's no need for that!" exclaimed Nakajima, his face becoming angry.

"It's what you came here for, isn't it?" said Soojin, sweetly. She nodded at Yeonha. "Go get your jacket from the room. Come back in two hours."

All the light seemed to have gone out of Yeonha's face. She slowly got up, clutching her precious book tightly, and went to the bedroom.

"It's a cold evening, too cold to go out," said Nakajima angrily, and glanced at Shinsou, "You're chasing my son out into the cold, too."

Park Soojin gave a small smile.

"He's not your son," she said, quietly.

Yeonha had come back out. She was wearing a windbreaker that looked far too thin for the current weather.

"Where's your other jacket?" asked Park Soojin.

"Someone stole it," said Yeonha, eyes downcast.

"That settles it, she can't go out," said Nakajima firmly.

"Yes, she can," said Park Soojin inexorably, "I've told her to keep an eye on her things before. She'll have to learn it the hard way."

Yeonha was looking totally confused. She wasn't sure whether Nakajima qualified as one of her mother's clients or not. If he was, he seemed to be a very reluctant one.

Nakajima looked as if he was going to explode, but Yeonha, glancing first at him and then at her mother's face, now hurried to the door. She could evidently feel her mother's anger, and she looked as if she didn't want to be in the flat any more.

"Youngjae," said Nakajima, throwing a meaningful look at Shinsou.

Shinsou nodded. "I'll take care of it," he said briefly. He knew that Nakajima wanted him to buy the girl a new jacket.

Yeonha looked upset as they made their way down in the elevator. When they reached the bottom and went out into the cold, she started shivering in the thin windbreaker.

Shinsou took his jacket off.

"Here," he said, holding it out to her, "wear this."

She stopped, and looked at him. "What about you?"

"I can go without, for a while," he said, "We can go to the jangmadang nearby. It should be warmer in there."

"It's too cold for you to go without a jacket, even for a few minutes," she objected.

"Well, you can give me yours to wear, then," said Shinsou, indifferently.

She laughed, the upset expression disappearing from her face. "It's too small for you!"

He just shrugged.

Yeonha stood holding the proferred jacket, undecided.

"You might as well wear it," said Shinsou, "because even if you give it back to me, I'm not going to put it on. Look, give me your windbreaker, if it'll make you feel better."

She had a slight look of disbelief on her face as she removed her windbreaker, and put his jacket on.

Shinsou tried the windbreaker, but couldn't even get an arm into it.

"You see," said Yeonha, covering her mouth and giggling, "it's too small."

Shinsou wrapped it around his shoulders like a cape, prompting more laughter from her. "Let's go," he said, setting off into the cold night. If it's this cold in October, I'm not looking forward to coming here in November and December, he thought.

Yeonha hurried after him; his jacket was a tad too big for her, and she looked rather shy while wearing it.

"Thank you," she said, "I'm sorry about this."

"Don't worry about it," said Shinsou, hoping that the jangmadang wouldn't have closed. The wind was biting.

It seemed to take a long time, but they finally reached the market, and it was still open. It consisted of a large number of stalls inside a tented area, which provided some protection from the wind and cold. Yeonha wanted to return Shinsou's jacket, but it wasn't really that warm, although not as cold as outside, and he told her to keep it on for the time being.

"Let's get you a new one," he said absently, looking over the crowd for a clothes stall.

"I … I haven't got any money," said Yeonha, her face flushing.

Shinsou was surprised.

"That's all right," he said, "I'll pay for it."

"No, you can't," she said, embarrassed, "it wouldn't be right."

"My father told me to, just now," said Shinsou, unconcerned, "he's an old friend of your mother's. Don't worry about it." He began making his way through the crowd.

Yeonha hurried after him. Presently, they came to a stall selling clothes that had been made in China. Shinsou glanced through the jackets, but thought all of them too dowdy and cheap-looking, especially compared to what Ayumi normally wore. He turned to the _ajumma_ , the middle-aged woman who was running the stall, and decided to brainwash her right away, before she noticed his poor Korean and deduced that he was a foreigner.

"How much is this?" he asked, randomly indicating one of the jackets.

"Sixty yuan," she said. Foreign currency such as the Chinese yuan was generally preferred over the North Korean _won_ , because it was more reliable.

The ajumma's face had gone blank.

"Any jackets with no label?" asked Shinsou.

"No label" referred to clothes made in South Korea, which were popular because many North Koreans secretly watched South Korean dramas that had been smuggled into the country. As a result, clothes similar to those worn by the actors and actresses in the dramas were much sought after. The South Korean clothes were also smuggled in, but because it was illegal to sell them, the smugglers usually removed the labels. If you wanted to look at such clothes, you usually had to ask the stallholder for clothes "with no label" or "clothes from the house below".

The ajumma nodded, and went off and began looking through a pile of cardboard boxes nearby.

Yeonha was looking at Shinsou, astonished.

"How did you know how to ask for that?" she asked, "I thought that this was your first time here!"

"Well …" said Shinsou, trying to think of an excuse. He had read about the clothes issue in one of the news articles from the data analysis department. Fortunately, the ajumma came back at this moment with a large box, and opened it.

"Choose what you like," said Shinsou to Yeonha, in Korean. He didn't think it would be a good idea for anyone to hear them speaking Japanese. Fortunately, he had followed the church Kims on their outings often enough to have picked up some vocabulary for shopping.

"These are expensive," Yeonha whispered, after looking at a few jackets.

"Don't worry, I know how to bargain," Shinsou whispered back, "Just choose one that you like."

Yeonha looked through the jackets. Shinsou saw her looking longingly at a smart black jacket, but she put it back after a while, and picked up a cheaper-looking one.

"How much is this?" he said to the ajumma, picking the black jacket up.

"Fifteen US dollars," said the ajumma. This was considered expensive, for salaries had shrunk so much in North Korea that for some jobs they currently amounted to only two or three US dollars per month.

"That's too much," whispered Yeonha anxiously, "The China-made clothes are half the price. I can get that, instead."

"Try it on," insisted Shinsou, handing her the jacket. She look startled, and glanced at the ajumma, but the woman was staring into space.

She tried the jacket on, looking at herself in the mirror provided. Shinsou could tell that she liked it.

"Give it to us for thirty yuan," Shinsou said to the ajumma. He took his wallet out, and handed the ajumma the money. Thirty yuan was about five US dollars.

Yeonha watched open-mouthed as the ajumma made no objection, but obediently took the money and kept it away.

"Continue with your business as usual," Shinsou said casually to the ajumma, as he put his own jacket on again. He began walking away from the stall.

"How did you do that?" asked Yeonha, hurrying after him and looking at him, wide-eyed.

"Do what?" said Shinsou, absently. He was trying to locate the drinks stall he had seen earlier when they'd had dinner. There were cheap plastic tables and chairs there, and he figured he could let Yeonha while away the remaining hours by reading her book on aircraft. She had brought it with her, and had been clutching it in her hands, all the while.

All the tables were taken. Shinsou and Yeonha stood around for a while, hoping someone would leave, and then he noticed two chairs at one of the tables. The customers sitting there, two women, had placed their shopping on them. They looked relatively wealthy from the way they were dressed, and Shinsou guessed that they might be well-to-do North Koreans, perhaps from Pyongyang.

He went over.

"Are these seats taken?" he asked, pointing at the chairs.

"Yes," said one of the women sweetly. Her face went blank.

"Are these seats taken?" said Shinsou pointedly, looking at the other woman.

She looked irritated. She hadn't noticed her companion's silence or blank expression yet.

"You heard my friend," she snapped, annoyed, and then her face went blank as well.

After further questioning, they admitted that they were tourists from Pyongyang, no one was using those seats, and that they were just whiling away the time, having finished their own meals.

"Let us have the table, then," ordered Shinsou, "Take your shopping and go back to your hotel."

Yeonha's eyes were wide as she watched the women obediently pick their shopping bags up and leave.

"How did you do that?" she asked, amazed.

"Why don't you buy us some drinks?" said Shinsou, avoiding the question, "My Korean isn't good enough to do the ordering." He fished more money out of his wallet, and handed it to her.

"I have enough money to buy drinks," breathed Yeonha, still looking at him in amazement, "What would you like?"

"Oh, anything," said Shinsou.

She came back presently, carrying a tray with two bowls of _yulmu_ on it, which was a soup-like traditional Korean tea.

"Have you tried yulmu before?" she asked, in Japanese.

"Once," said Shinsou, "it's all right." The church Kims sometimes sold it at their stall; it tasted rather like a sweet, bland milk. He didn't look too enthusiastic, however, and Yeonha began to look anxious.

"It's fine," he assured her, seeing her expression, and then he switched to Korean. "We shouldn't be speaking Japanese here, should we? But I'm afraid my Korean isn't very good, so why don't you just read your book now? We've still got more than an hour to wait. I'll just sit here and doze off."

"Oh, your Korean's so much better than Eomma's used to be!" said Yeonha earnestly, "when I was a little girl I remember it took a long time before hers improved. Your Korean is fine! You can always add in words in Japanese if you're not sure."

"Well, I'm a little shy to speak it," said Shinsou untruthfully, "I'll just watch people walk past while you read your book."

"Oh, no, it'll be rude if I do that," said Yeonha, and then her face brightened. "I know! You can tell me about Japan!" She looked excited, but then became serious, and added in an undertone, "The government here says a lot of bad things about it, just as they do for America. But Eomma lived there for many years, and she told me it isn't like that. What is it like?"

Before Shinsou could object, she proceeded to pelt him with questions, which were the type that required more complicated answers. He had hardly managed to find the vocabulary to answer one in Korean before the next came along.

"Stop," he protested, after a while, "I'm talking myself hoarse. You ask too many questions. Do you always talk so much?"

"No," she said, laughing and looking slightly abashed, "Sorry. It's just that … I'll never have a chance to talk to someone from another country again. Are you really leaving tomorrow morning? Will your ship ever come to Wonsan again, do you think?"

"Maybe," said Shinsou vaguely. He didn't think it a good idea to tell her yet that he and Nakajima might be coming every month.

He began drinking the yulmu, which had become cold by then, and she let him be for a while, finishing her own bowl of yulmu, and then fiddling with her new jacket and admiring the material, her eyes shining.

Shinsou looked at her thoughtfully. Ayumi would often bring a load of shopping home and then spend about an hour admiring all her purchases; but this was different. He could tell, from the state of Park Soojin's apartment and the clothes that she and Yeonha were wearing, that they were poor, and it was unlikely that the latter had ever owned anything as stylish as that jacket.

She saw him looking at her, and gave a shy smile.

"I really like the jacket," she said bashfully, "thank you so much."

"No problem," he said, with a small smile.

Yeonha was now looking at Nakajima's gift.

"And I really like the book, too," she said, looking rather overcome, "it's not often that I get so many nice things, in one day."

"Was the Air Festival really that good?" asked Shinsou, looking curiously at the book.

"Oh, it was wonderful!" she said enthusiastically, and launched into a description of it. Shinsou knew, from news reports, that there had been thousands of local spectators at the Festival which the government had brought in from other parts of the country. There had also been a fair number of foreign tourists and media, which the regime had invited to showcase the country.

The main attraction for foreign aviation enthusiasts had been the chance to see and ride on dated, Soviet-era aircraft, none of which were in use by any other airline in the world anymore; and also to see the North Korean Air Force's own aircraft, which the regime had been extremely secretive about, till then.

To Yeonha, the highlight of the show was to discover that the pilots flying the two MiG-29 fighter jets were women; she told Shinsou that this had given her the idea that she might be able to become a pilot, as well.

Shinsou suddenly noticed that some of the stalls appeared to be closing, and glancing at his watch, realised that the two hours was up. He also realised that he had completely forgotten about adopting his vapid persona; he had been too preoccupied with getting the jacket and trying to summon up enough Korean to communicate, and had become distracted by Yeonha's questions after that.

It was too late to do anything now, he thought resignedly, as they made their way out into the cold night.

As they walked back, Yeonha's face began to assume a rather brooding expression.

"Youngjae-oppa," she said timidly, after a few minutes' silence, "Don't you mind that they are doing it?"

Shinsou looked at her, puzzled. "Doing what?" and then he suddenly realised that she was talking about her mother and Nakajima.

"You know …" she said, looking embarrassed.

Shinsou didn't know what to say. They were, after all, her parents – but he couldn't possibly tell her that!

"Does your mother know about this?" Yeonha asked, in a low voice.

"No," said Shinsou, with perfect truth.

"Oh, I forgot," she said softly, "Eomma told me, your mother passed away. Your father is a widower. I'm so sorry."

Shinsou cursed inwardly. He wondered if this was Nakajima or Park Soojin's idea, and if so, he wished they would tell him first before they made up things and went around telling others about it.

They were now approaching the apartment block. A man was standing in front of the elevator, about to enter. Yeonha stopped short when she saw him, a look of apprehension on her face.

She turned to Shinsou.

"Do you mind if I make us invisible?" she whispered, glancing at the man.

However, it was too late. The man turned, and saw the two of them standing there. He looked to be in his fifties, and relatively wealthy from the clothes he was wearing. Shinsou recognised him. Watanabe had been discussing this same man that afternoon, and had shown them a recent photo of him. He was the one who had been responsible for bringing Park Soojin to North Korea.

It was Choe Yong-gon, Nakajima's old rival.


	11. The Sparring Match

**11 THE SPARRING MATCH**

Choe Yong-gon took a cigarette out – an expensive local brand named "7.27", Shinsou noted – and lit it with a sleek, black lighter.

"Good evening, Yeonha-ya," he said through a cloud of smoke, glancing at them as they got into the elevator.

"Abeonim," Yeonha greeted him.

"Who's this?" enquired Choe, looking at Shinsou.

"He's the son of Eomma's old friend from Japan who came to visit," said Yeonha, nervously.

The elevator reached the tenth floor, and they got out.

"Old friend?" said Choe, looking appraisingly at Shinsou, "Where's this old friend, then?"

"He and Eomma are in the apartment," said Yeonha, eyes downcast.

"Ah, she sent you out, did she?" said Choe. He blew out another cloud of cigarette smoke.

"No, I brought oppa here to have a look at the jangmadang," said Yeonha, quickly.

"Well, let's go in, then, shall we?" said Choe, expansively.

Nakajima and Park Soojin were sitting in the living room, talking. The latter went pale when she saw Choe.

"Yong-gon oppa," she said, rising.

"I see you have company, Soojin-ya," said Choe smoothly, "Why don't you introduce us?"

"This is an old friend from Japan, Han Kyung-ju," said Park Soojin nervously, "He's a sailor. His ship the _Kirogi_ has docked here, and he and his son came to pay a visit."

Choe Yong-gon bowed, and so did Nakajima. Shinsou was wondering whether Choe would see through Nakajima's disguise.

"Kirogi, eh?" said Choe, "Now, that comes from Niigata City, doesn't it?"

"It does," said Nakajima, calmly.

"You must be a Zainichi Korean too, then," said Choe, "I was in Japan, long ago, with Soojin here. We must have met. I'm sure I'll be able to recall who you are, after a while."

"Unlikely," said Nakajima, "we probably moved in quite different circles, there."

"You remind me of someone I used to spar with, there," remarked Choe, looking carefully at him, "I can recall it clearly, although it was many years ago."

"Perhaps that must be because the outcome of the matches was not as desired?" said Nakajima, quietly.

Choe's face darkened.

"I won," he snapped, "I always win. Do you know martial arts, Kyungju-ssi?"

Yeonha was listening, her eyes wide. Park Soojin was looking tense.

"I know a little," said Nakajima, smiling slightly, "I would be happy to help you relive those sparring days, if you wish."

"Then no doubt your son here is also well-versed in those arts," purred Choe, looking at Shinsou.

"Yong-gon oppa, please – " Park Soojin began, looking worried.

"Yeonha here has been learning taekwondo for the last two years," said Choe smoothly, ignoring her, "I arranged the lessons specially for her. Perhaps she and your son can have a little match, now."

"Oh, abeonim, I'm sure that's not necessary," said Yeonha softly, looking distressed.

"Come, Yeonha-ya, you know that is my criterion for all the boys I see you with," said Choe, "I always make them spar with you. If they lose, they're not worthy of you."

"But I'm not dating Youngjae, or anything," protested Yeonha, flushing pink, "He came to visit, that's all. And besides, it's such an unfair criterion. Many people here have not learned martial arts. I'm sure Youngjae-oppa here hasn't."

"I haven't," agreed Shinsou.

"He has," said Nakajima, at the same time.

He and Shinsou looked at each other. Shinsou had been thinking that an ignorance of martial arts might lower Yeonha's opinion of him, and that this was a chance to resurrect his vapid strategy.

Nakajima, on the other hand, was interested to see how well his daughter could fight. He didn't seem terribly concerned that his trainee might get beaten up.

"Well!" said Choe, his eyes glittering unpleasantly, "One says he has, one says he hasn't. Which is it?"

"I know a little," admitted Shinsou. He decided that losing to Yeonha would do for his strategy, as well. He wondered whether this would displease Nakajima. But surely, he reasoned, his supervisor wouldn't mind seeing his daughter win.

All of a sudden, the surroundings around them blurred. Shinsou was startled; he had a slight feeling of disorientation. When things came into focus again, they were standing in semi-darkness. There was enough light filtering in from the street outside to show that they were no longer in the apartment, but in what looked like a shabby indoor sports hall.

"My apologies if I've startled our guests," said Choe in his smooth manner, "I happen to have a Warp Gate Quirk, and this is the training hall of a school not too far from Soojin's apartment. It should be a suitable place for sparring."

He walked to a light switch nearby and flicked it, so that the hall was dimly illuminated by several bare, flickering light bulbs.

Yeonha glanced helplessly at Shinsou; it was obvious that she didn't want to fight.

Shinsou nodded at her, and took his jacket and shoes off, although it was cold. She did the same, and they then faced each other. He was wondering how quickly he should lose to her, and whether he could do it without making it too obvious, when he felt that peculiar surge of emotion well up within him again.

He glanced at Park Soojin. Shinsou didn't realise it, but because his own Quirk involved the mind, he was more receptive to her thoughts and feelings than the others were.

Park Soojin was looking at Choe and Nakajima, and was thinking about how she had left Japan suddenly without telling the latter, and how much she had regretted it in the end. She was reliving all the hurt and disappointment she had experienced ever since she had come to North Korea.

As Soojin looked at Choe, Shinsou realised that she feared and also hated him. She was observing Yeonha and Shinsou preparing to spar, and she did not see them, but Choe and Nakajima instead. Yeonha represented Choe, who was rooting for her, and Shinsou embodied Nakajima. Park Soojin wanted Shinsou to win, so that Choe would be beaten.

Shinsou felt all these thoughts within a split second. In that moment, he felt Soojin's pain, and he pitied her. He hesitated suddenly, wondering whether he should to try to win, for her.

Yeonha was looking at Shinsou, her eyes wide. They began circling each other. He decided to test her first, to see what her skills were like. She had been training much longer than he had, and perhaps she would defeat him right away. But if she didn't, perhaps he might be able to win one or two rounds for her mother.

However, in the end there was basically no fight. Shinsou might not have been learning martial arts as long as Yeonha had, but he had been spending the last few months sparring intensively with black belts almost daily. Not only that, but his experiences in Yuuei and his hero training had conditioned him to fight.

He blocked and dodged her kicks and strikes fairly easily, and he discovered that the best time to attack was when she had completed her kick but had not yet recovered from her attacking momentum. A simple foot sweep then sufficed to send her to the ground.

He did this twice, and Yeonha's eyes widened as she gradually realised that he was more than a match for her. She began to look tense, and started to attack more aggressively.

Shinsou kept calm and focused. To him, this was no more than another sparring session, like the hundreds he'd had with the Shinagawa group or with Kaneshiro. It made no difference to him if he won or not. If he won, it was for Park Soojin. If he lost, it would be in line with his strategy to appear weak.

He avoided attacking Yeonha with any of the more aggressive punches or kicks, and instead focused on knocking her off her feet. After the fifth time, however, she began to look really frightened, and although it was cold, sweat began to trickle down her face. Shinsou saw her glance at Choe.

He turned to look, as well. Choe was looking absolutely furious.

Shinsou glanced at Nakajima and Park Soojin. Yeonha's mother was no longer projecting her feelings onto him. She was looking anxious, and her face mirrored the fear in her daughter's. Nakajima had taken in the entire situation and, looking at Shinsou, gave a slight shake of the head.

Shinsou realised that both Park Soojin and Yeonha were afraid of Choe, and that if Yeonha lost in the sparring, she was going to have to face his anger. He realised belatedly too that Choe was not going to let the sparring end until she had won at least one round; and that the more she lost to Shinsou, the worse her punishment was going to be.

He was going to have to let her win.

His eyes met Yeonha's, and he gave a slight nod, as if telling her to make her move. He let her kick take him, so that in a second he was lying on the ground.

He lay there for a few seconds, and then sat up.

Choe had come over, his face set in anger. Yeonha stood, looking at him in trepidation.

"Do you think I am stupid?" he said furiously, "He let you win!"

Yeonha was trembling. Choe's eyes flashed. "You are going to have to work harder! Much, much harder!"

"Yes, abeonim," she whispered.

"Youngjae," Shinsou heard Nakajima calling, "it's time for us to go."

Shinsou picked his jacket up and put it on, and his shoes as well, and then walked over to his supervisor, not looking at Yeonha or the livid Choe.

Nakajima nodded to Soojin and said softly, "I'll see you," and then made his way over to the exit nearby. The door was locked, but he took some sort of tool from his pocket, and picked it without much difficulty. They then went out into the cold night.

They made their way out of the school grounds and onto the road. Nakajima looked around, evidently searching for a place where he could make them both invisible. He started heading for the nearest alley.

"Was it wise, picking the lock so easily?" asked Shinsou, quietly.

"There are people around enough who know how to open locks," said Nakajima, "and anyway, Choe guessed who I am. Wasn't it obvious? Fortunately, he's as out of shape as I am, which is why he didn't accept the offer to spar with me. He could report me, of course – a Japanese agent, caught on North Korean soil! I'd be executed publicly in the blink of an eye. But I know him – he wants to prove he still has the upper hand with Soojin over me, and show her that he's better than me. He's lost the first round, with this sparring match. He'll be planning how to win the next. I don't think he'll give me away for the time being."

"He seems to know about the Kirogi," commented Shinsou, "He knew where it sailed from, and that the crew are Zainichi Koreans."

"I noticed that, too," admitted Nakajima, "I'd wager he's the one teleporting those crates from the ship away. Warp Gate Quirks are rare, and I'd be surprised if there was another person in the country with one. It seems very odd, though – I can't imagine why Choe would be interested in something as menial as bottled water. He'd be into bigger things. I'd better get down to the bottom of this the next time the ship comes into port."

At this moment, they heard soft, running steps, and then Yeonha suddenly materialised in front of them.

"Yeonha?" said Nakajima. There was a curious expression on his face, seeing his daughter displaying his own Quirk.

"Abeonim, oppa, will you be coming to see us again?" she asked, sounding out of breath.

Shinsou looked at Nakajima.

"We will, the next time our ship comes here," replied Nakajima, "in about a month's time."

She smiled, then.

"I'm glad," she said, sincerely, "Thank you for coming. Abeonim, thank you for the book."

"Yeonha-ya," said Nakajima sternly, "You shouldn't be showing us your Quirk. It's dangerous!"

"But you know about my Quirk," said Yeonha, still breathing hard from catching up with them, "Eomma said she told you!"

"Well, make sure you don't tell others, and don't let people see you using it!" said Nakajima.

"Yes, abeonim," she said, obediently.

She cast a shy glance at Shinsou. "Oppa, thank you for the jacket." She then gave a small wave of farewell, and before he could reply, she disappeared again.

A few seconds later, Shinsou felt something small and hard being pressed into his pocket. He felt Yeonha's invisible self brush past him, and then she was gone.

Nakajima shook his head at his daughter's reckless use of her invisibility, and seeing Shinsou looking back, turned to look as well, even though neither of them could see her.

"She should be more careful," he said.

Shinsou waited until they had returned to the Kirogi and he was back in his cabin, before taking the object out of his pocket. It was a black cigarette lighter, and it looked exactly like the one that Choe had been using.

He turned it around in his hands, puzzled. Had Yeonha stolen it from Choe's pocket after becoming invisible? Why would she want to give it to him? Shinsou didn't have the faintest clue. To show him that she didn't mind him beating her, and that she was on his side, not Choe's? Or did she think that he looked like someone who smoked?

It wasn't until he tried to give the lighter to Kaneshiro, back in Tokyo, that any sort of answer came to him.

.

.

The weather during the journey back to Japan was unsettled, and the ship rolled a fair bit. Shinsou, bringing bottled water to the galley as usual, was transfixed to see Lee, the assistant cook, following a flustered and seasick Ryoko around, talking at full speed, with various pots and utensils hovering about them in the air.

"What's happening?" he asked Ryoko, when she had joined him in the side room where the water was kept, looking rather green.

"It turns out he has a telekinetic Quirk," she said, looking as if she didn't know whether to be pleased or not, "he told me he can't move very heavy things, the most perhaps a fat person; but he's been helping me whenever I drop something, by making it hover before it hits the ground." She looked embarrassed.

"Considering how clumsy you are, that sounds exactly like what you need," Shinsou pointed out, "in which case, this guy certainly seems ideal for you!"

"Miaow, don't even suggest it, I can't stand him!" said Ryoko, indignantly. Then she remembered something. "How did things go, with Nakajima's daughter?"

"Nothing much happened," said Shinsou shortly, and promptly changed the subject. "Stop saying 'miaow'; you don't even have a cat's head at the moment. And have you been taking your seasick pills? You're looking awful."

"I know," she moaned, "I feel awful." Then she clapped her hand over her mouth, and ran outside to throw up.

Otherwise, the journey back to Niigata City was uneventful. Hwang, under cover of darkness, again transformed the ship from the Kirogi back into the white Shiramine, and as it sailed into the port of Niigata, Shinsou was able to reflect that they had managed to survive the first trip intact, at any rate.

.

.

He and Ryoko eventually found themselves back at the Directorate, attending training sessions again.

Shinsou decided that he'd had enough of Kim seon-saeng-nim, and brainwashed the teacher for one and a half hours while he did his own self-study. He only woke Teacher Kim up for the last half hour. This was too obvious for the Korean tutor to miss noticing, and realising what his student was doing, he lost his temper and dragged Shinsou to see Kaneshiro, declaring that he wasn't going to teach him any more.

Kaneshiro seemed to have been expecting that this would happen. He listened to Teacher Kim's diatribe politely, and when the teacher had stormed off, simply told a defiant-looking Shinsou that he might as well discontinue the Korean language sessions, since they obviously weren't doing him any good. Nakajima had mentioned that if Shinsou was going to blend in with the locals in Wonsan, he was going to have to acquire a North Korean accent. In place of his lessons with Teacher Kim, therefore, he was to have extra sessions with Makeover Girl. It might have been good if Shinsou had acquired the accent from the beginning, but it hadn't been possible to find a Korean language tutor that could teach in it.

Shinsou didn't mind having to do a bit of unlearning. It would have been very confusing interacting with the church Kims if he'd been learning Korean with a northern accent. He was going to have to learn how to switch between a South Korean and North Korean accent, though, if he wanted to continue going to the church basement on Sundays.

Makeover Girl's Quirk was not disguises, but one that enabled her to speak any and every language, which included dialects and different accents. She had trained most of the agents in the Directorate who were based overseas and required speech training in foreign languages. She had a discussion with Shinsou as to whether he should learn the Wonsan accent, for within North Korea, as anywhere else, people from different regions spoke differently. In the end they decided that he should try speaking like someone from Pyongyang, because Makeover Girl felt it would be more practical.

"If you're based in North Korea you'll probably end up in the capital, sooner or later," she said, "and since Wonsan is a tourist resort, plenty of people from Pyongyang go there. You can start off with this, and then branch off to other accents if you have to."

For homework, she recorded several sets of tapes of herself speaking in that accent for him, and told him that the more he listened to them, the easier it would be for him to imitate it.

She shook her head. "We've got plenty of work to do," she said, "there are quite a lot of differences in vocabulary as well, between the North and South. Tell Kaneshiro to speak like a North Korean when he talks to you in Korean from now on. He's quite good at it."

Kaneshiro had, of course, asked Shinsou for a debrief, and said that they might as well incorporate it into one of their Korean-speaking sessions. If it had not been for this, Shinsou would probably have given a far shorter account of the trip to his supervisor. But because this was their topic of conversation for the Korean-speaking session, he found himself telling Kaneshiro about the journey in detail.

Besides describing the Shiramine and his impressions of Wonsan, Shinsou admitted that the experience had changed his opinion of Nakajima. Not only had his supervisor been totally sober throughout the entire trip, but he had also shown himself to be a competent and professional operative. He had immediately familiarised himself thoroughly with the ship and everyone on board, and later in Wonsan he had been alert and observant.

How observant, Shinsou had only realised from the conversation between the other two agents during the walk around Wonsan. At Dongmyong Hotel, Shinsou had thought that Nakajima would have been preoccupied with getting along with Park Soojin; but he had later commented to Watanabe about the hotel, comparing it in detail to what he remembered of it years ago, and he had also taken note of every single customer in the restaurant and estimated where they hailed from.

It was the same throughout the day. Nakajima and Watanabe might be having some conversation, but they were also constantly taking note of their surroundings and the people around them. They would quietly comment later on the way people had behaved and what they had been wearing, down to small details like whether someone had dirty fingernails, the brand of shoes being worn or how the South Korean style of _hanbok_ – or Korean traditional dress – was appearing more frequently in the North now (the North's hanbok jacket had a narrow ' _dongjeong_ ', or collar, and was of a single colour; South Korean hanboks had wider _dongjeong_ and were of multiple colours). They did this not because they were interested in fashion, but because it was necessary that they stay up to date if they were to put together a good disguise.

Nakajima could speak like a North Korean as well, and he had shown Shinsou that he could impersonate someone local to Wonsan, or someone from the capital Pyongyang (including the slightly more haughty bearing) or a farmer from the rural areas. He had invisibly "borrowed" a _yangbok_ from a clothes stall in the jangmadang and acted as a Pyongyangite, buying drinks from a kiosk using the correct accent and bearing; and he had later changed into the shabby clothes of a country bumpkin, and done likewise.

He could also change disguises while invisible, applying the makeup and prosthetics even when he couldn't see himself. Competent agents, he informed Shinsou, most of whom couldn't make themselves invisible, should be able to put on a new disguise even in the dark.

Shinsou didn't bother to tell Kaneshiro about Park Soojin or Yeonha, since in his opinion Nakajima's personal affairs didn't constitute work. However, since he didn't smoke, he did try to unload Yeonha's cigarette lighter onto his supervisor.

"Oh, and by the way, I don't suppose you want a lighter," he said to Kaneshiro, taking Choe Yong-gon's lighter out, "Nakajima's daughter pinched it from his rival and gave it to me when we left."

To Shinsou's astonishment, Kaneshiro laughed.

"She gave you a lighter, eh?" he said.

"Yes," Shinsou admitted cautiously, "what about it?"

"It may not mean anything, of course," said Kaneshiro, looking amused, "but the women there sometimes like getting a lighter as a present for their boyfriends, even if the boyfriend doesn't smoke. It's supposed to symbolize the burning love that they have for each other."

"Oh," said Shinsou. He didn't know what else to say.

"You must have hit it off with her," remarked Kaneshiro.

"I don't think so," said Shinsou, trying to think back on what had happened. "I only visited for about two hours."

"Well, what did you do?" asked Kaneshiro.

Shinsou briefly recounted what had happened.

"So, first you loaned her your jacket, enduring the cold yourself, and then you bought her a stylish and expensive jacket, used your Quirk to find seats so that you could have a drink together, and sparred with her, making it obvious that you let her win when you could have beaten her," Kaneshiro summarised. "I don't suppose you know that that's what courting couples often do over there – go shopping at the _jangmadang_. If the girl sees something she likes, the boy may buy it for her."

"It seemed like such a cheap market compared to the stores here, it didn't occur to me," said Shinsou, subdued. He would never have brought Ayumi on a date to a market like that. "And I didn't have much choice in the matter. Nakajima indicated he wanted me to buy her a jacket, and to let her win in the sparring."

"You could have bought her a cheap jacket, and kept her standing while having the drinks," said Kaneshiro, "You could also have stood in bored silence while having drinks, but it sounds as if you had a fairly interesting conversation with her."

Shinsou looked at his supervisor for a few moments.

"I guess I'm not a very good actor," he said, at last.

"Possibly not," said Kaneshiro. He looked at Shinsou. "Why don't you just give up and be friends with her, and do what Nakajima wants?"

"The lighter may not mean anything," Shinsou stubbornly insisted, avoiding the question, "It did seem as if she doesn't like Choe very much."

"Perhaps," said Kaneshiro, "but it could also be that she's telling you that you light her fire." He soon left the room, still looking amused, and Shinsou had the distinct feeling that his supervisor was laughing at him.

.

.

The remainder of the month flew past, and before everyone knew it, it was time to board the Shiramine again.

The second journey was similar to the first, in that there was only bottled water in the hold. It was colder, however, for winter was setting in. The sea was choppy, and the ship's rolling motion resulted in severe seasickness for Ryoko.

Shinsou had lookout duty from eight to midnight again, and was still being paired with a senior watchstander who allowed him to occasionally take a break. Since the weather was cold, he decided to walk around the lower deck instead of wandering out to the bow of the ship as he normally might.

It was eleven at night, so no one was around, and the deck was almost in darkness. Even so, Shinsou had a feeling that someone was there.

"Youngjae," he heard Nakajima's voice, "anything to report?"

"Nothing," answered Shinsou, "I've brainwashed all the crew again, just like last time, and no one knows of any hidden cargo."

"All right," said Nakajima, "I'm off, then. But you'd better stay a few minutes more. You're going to have a visitor."

"Visitor?" said Shinsou, surprised.

"That pesky assistant cook," said Nakajima, sounding amused, "he's concealed himself in a garbage bin and has been muttering to himself all night, wondering whether to go up near the bridge to look for you. He sounds as if he wants to ask you for Hirano's hand in marriage."

"What?!" said Shinsou, wondering if he had heard aright.

Nakajima chuckled.

"You'll see," he said, "He certainly breathes new life into the word 'peculiar'. I'm beginning to think that he and Hirano are made for each other. Enjoy the sight while you can. How often do you see a levitating garbage bin that talks to itself?"

"Levitating garbage bin?" said Shinsou, nonplussed. But Nakajima was gone.

Shinsou paced around for another minute, and sure enough, in the distance he thought he saw a little bit of darkness detach itself from its surroundings and make its way toward him.

The bit of darkness eventually revealed itself to be a floating garbage bin. It silently made its way over to Shinsou, and landed with a soft *plonk* on the floor. Lee's head presently emerged from its depths.

" _Youngjae-ssi!"_ he hissed, in a penetrating whisper.

"What are you doing inside that bin?" demanded Shinsou.

"Shh!" whispered Lee, peering around as if he was afraid he would be seen. "I wanted to do this discreetly, so I hid myself in here and telekinetically moved the bin around!"

"A floating dustbin is going to attract more attention than if you'd simply moved around like a normal human being," Shinsou pointed out, wondering if Lee was mad.

"Youngjae-ssi, I need to talk to you," whispered Lee, looking around in a furtive manner.

"What about?" said Shinsou, not too pleased, "I'll need to get back to the bridge soon. I'm supposed to be on watch."

"It's about Jiyeon," said Lee, in a bashful tone of voice.

"Well, what about her?" asked Shinsou.

"I know that there's something going on between the two of you," announced Lee.

"You do, do you?" said Shinsou, amused, "Well, what about it?"

"I've got to let you know," whispered Lee in a conspiratorial tone, "you're being deceived!"

"Am I?" said Shinsou indifferently, "in what way?"

" _She's not what you think she is!"_ hissed Lee, looking around again as if afraid they would be overheard, " _in reality, she has the head of a cat!"_

Shinsou groaned inwardly. _That little nitwit,_ he thought furiously, _she forgot to take her hairs!_

"How do you know?" he asked.

"She can shapeshift!" hissed Lee, "She's been eating someone's hair to impersonate that person, but she forgot this afternoon and transformed back into her real self!"

"Was anyone else around when it happened?" asked Shinsou, privately deciding that he was going to strangle Ryoko.

"No," said Lee, "and she was horrified when she realised that I had seen her true self, but I assured her, on my honour, that I would keep her secret!"

"Good of you," remarked Shinsou, "Did she tell you why she was disguising herself?"

"No," said Lee commiseratingly, "but I guessed right away. She thinks she looks ugly as a cat, and so she's chosen to hide her true appearance!"

"Hm," said Shinsou, relieved that at least Lee, at any rate, had found a story to cover things up.

"I think she looks prettier as a cat," said Lee passionately, "and I told her so. But she continued looking distraught. Anyway, I know not everyone might think like me, so I decided I had better let you know."

"Well, you're quite right," agreed Shinsou, "I don't think I'd be interested in anyone who has a cat's head."

"You mean, you'll let me have her?" said Lee, in disbelief.

"Certainly," said Shinsou, glancing at his watch, "she's all yours."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Youngjae-ssi!" said Lee, sounding overjoyed, "I can't believe this is happening!"

"Neither can I," said Shinsou, eyeing the garbage bin.

"But, Youngjae-ssi, she likes you," added Lee despairingly, "What shall I do? I just can't compete with you. You're tall and hunky. I'm just a puny little runt – "

"You'll do fine," Shinsou assured him, "just stop spouting politics to her. Flatter her instead. Tell her she's beautiful, clever, talented … even if you don't think it's true."

Lee was listening earnestly.

"Beautiful, clever, talented," he ticked them off on his fingers. "I'll remember that."

"Her dream is to run her own ryokan, so maybe you could buy her one," said Shinsou, who obviously wasn't taking the issue very seriously.

"Ryokan," said Lee, ticking off another finger, his eyes bulging slightly.

"Oh, and when you finally do propose, do it at the summit of Mt Fuji," added Shinsou.

"Mt Fuji," said Lee fervently, ticking off a final finger.

Shinsou looked at him, wondering if this conversation was really happening.

"What do you see in her?" he was unable to resist asking.

Lee clasped his hands.

"I don't know," he whispered ecstatically, "it's one of those things you can't explain. When I first saw her, I knew she was the one for me!"

"I've really got to get back to the bridge," said Shinsou, deciding that he'd heard enough.

"Yes, yes, time for me to make a triumphant and stealthy exit as well," whispered Lee, dramatically.

He disappeared back inside the bin, and it presently rose up and, hovering about a foot or so above the ground, started floating away into the darkness.

As he watched the dim silhouette of the bin making its furtive way back along the deck, Shinsou couldn't help agreeing that Lee gave new meaning to the word 'peculiar'. And, although he knew that the cat girl wouldn't thank him for it, he couldn't help also concurring with Nakajima that Ryoko and Lee were each so eccentric in their own ways, that they probably deserved each other.


	12. The Test Flight

**12 THE TEST FLIGHT**

The Kirogi eventually docked at Wonsan and, acting on Nakajima's instructions, Shinsou hung around the ship's hold, waiting for the four men to come on board and remove the bottled water. He tried approaching them when they appeared so that he could brainwash and interrogate them, but Yoshi leapt at him, growling, and refused to allow him to go anywhere near them.

"It's all right," Shinsou heard Nakajima say quietly from nearby, "The dog certainly seems to be in cahoots with them. Go back to your duties. I'll join Watanabe outside and see if we can't follow them and get more information."

Shinsou didn't hear from Nakajima again that night, but the next morning Watanabe appeared, once more dressed as a government minder, and after he had ushered Shinsou off the ship, said in a businesslike tone, "We're going to a jangmadang at the far end of the town. We managed to get up close to them last night before the hooded man teleported them all away, and I think I've recognised one of them. His name is Baek, and as far as I know, he's into drug dealing. I've seen him occasionally patronising a stall that sells home-brewed alcohol in this particular jangmadang, so we're going to hang around there and see if he shows up."

They flagged down one of the few taxis that were plying the empty streets, and Nakajima, who had joined them, made them invisible once they were inside the car. He told Shinsou to brainwash the taxi driver so that he wouldn't notice that his passengers had vanished.

The jangmadang was much larger than the one near Park Soojin's apartment, and had a far greater variety of goods. Since the famine, these markets had evolved from simple ones into something much more diverse, and North Koreans now had a saying that the only item one could not buy in a jangmadang was a cat's horn. Cosmetics, car batteries, rice cookers, DVD-players, cans of Coca-cola, and illegal DVDs of South Korean and American movies were all available.

Shinsou even saw doctors there, offering their services. Watanabe, seeing his bemused expression, told him that the doctors here couldn't survive on their meagre wages, and although what they were doing was illegal, even the officials who were supposed to crack down on them ended up being forced to receive help from them, because the government health care system had also collapsed during the famine.

Although it was still early in the day, a fair number of stalls were already open, and quite a few customers were making their way around, browsing through the various products. Watanabe noticed a man dressed in the olive-green uniform of a Party cadre, moving from stall to stall.

"See him?" he said to the others, nodding at the Party cadre and shaking his head, "He's a fake. People who set up stalls at jangmadang have to pay a stall tax to keep their slots, and this fellow has been masquerading as a tax-collecting official, cheating the stallholders of their money. We should get Youngjae here to brainwash him and teach him a lesson."

"Not now," said Nakajima, impatiently. He had stopped being invisible, because it was too crowded and people would bump into him. "We've got more important things to do now than play Robin Hood."

They had been walking around for less than ten minutes when Watanabe gave a small grunt. "That's him, Baek. The one in the grey jacket."

As more than a third of the men present were wearing drab grey, this wasn't very helpful, but Shinsou was able to figure out that Watanabe meant a stout man in a dark grey windbreaker, carrying a couple of shopping bags, a few stalls away from them.

They split up and began following Baek separately, trying not to make it too obvious, stopping now and then to browse at a random stall.

Shinsou had moved ahead, and he paused at a stall that was selling street food. It was a very makeshift sort of stall, for the food was simply spread out on a mat on the ground, unlike the other stalls which consisted of proper kiosks. There was _injogogi_ , made from rice, kimchi and soy bean paste, and _seokdujeon_ , which was made by mixing cornmeal powder and water. These were cheap and easy snacks to make, and a lot of housewives tried to garner some extra income by selling them at the market.

He glanced ahead, trying to see where Baek was, but the next thing he knew, one of the street food stallholders noticed him, and began homing in rapidly on him.

"Youngjae-oppa!" she squeaked excitedly, beaming at him.

"Yeonha?" Shinsou was dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"

"I skipped school today," she whispered mischievously, " _Samchon_ forged a medical letter for me. I'm here helping my neighbour sell her mother's snacks." She indicated a girl who was seated on the floor nearby. "I get a commission for all that I manage to sell." She smiled winsomely at him. "Would you like to buy some?"

At this unpropitious moment, Nakajima came up from behind. Spying his errant daughter, he immediately deduced that she was playing truant.

"Yeonha!" he exploded, "What are you doing here?"

Yeonha was startled. "Abeonim?" She suddenly looked exceedingly guilty.

"Why aren't you in school?" said Nakajima sternly, "Does your mother know you're here?"

"There's no school today," lied Yeonha.

"No school? Are you sure?" said Nakajima disbelievingly, "You're going to get into trouble if you skip classes!"

Watanabe had also come up, but because he was in disguise, Yeonha didn't recognise him.

Nakajima was scowling.

"Youngjae," he said, glancing at Shinsou, "Bring her back to her school. The two of us will continue with our business here."

"What?" said Watanabe, glaring at Nakajima, "We need him, you idiot!"

He brought Nakajima to one side, and they began to have a whispered argument.

"If we catch up with Baek, Youngjae can brainwash him!" hissed Watanabe.

"That's my daughter, and she's going to get expelled if she plays truant like this!" retorted Nakajima.

"Don't be silly!" spluttered Watanabe, "Students do it all the time nowadays! It's standard practice. They just pay the teacher a few yuan the next day!"

"Those are for normal high schools," said Nakajima inflexibly, "these elite foreign language schools are different!"

"Well, stop worrying about it!" said Watanabe, "I forged a medical letter for her!"

"You did what?!" said Nakajima, furiously.

"They didn't get any living expenses this month, you dolt," whispered Watanabe heatedly, "because Choe was livid that your 'son' knocked your daughter out in some match. The only way she can get any pocket money is at these jangmadang stalls!"

"You interfering busybody!" said Nakajima, incensed, "Why didn't you just give her money instead of letting her play truant? You know that I'd reimburse you later! How is she going to pass her exams if she keeps skipping classes?"

"Abeoji," Shinsou interrupted at this point, "I think our quarry is moving on to another stall."

Nakajima turned to look, and then cursed under his breath.

"Bring her back to school, and then make your way to Dongmyong and meet us there," he ordered Shinsou, before disappearing in the direction of the elusive Baek.

Watanabe was scowling. "Enjoy playing nursemaid, Youngjae," he said to Shinsou, before turning and following Nakajima.

Shinsou turned to look at Yeonha. She hadn't been able to hear any of the whispered conversation between her father and Watanabe, but she had heard Nakajima's final order to bring her back to school. She was looking at Shinsou, a defiant expression on her face. She had her lips pressed together, and he guessed that she had figured out how his Quirk worked; she wasn't going to allow him to brainwash her into following him.

He dug his hands into his pockets and sauntered off, looking for the bogus tax-collecting Party cadre whom they had seen earlier. So Yeonha had lost her allowance because of him; he'd see what he could do to reimburse her.

Presently, he located the cadre at a stall selling electronic goods, having a heated argument with the stallholder. From what Shinsou could gather, the stallholder was insisting that he had already paid his tax the previous week.

He went up to the two arguing men. He had no idea how to address a Party cadre in Korean, so he settled for the standard 'excuse me' – " _Jeogiyo_."

The cadre turned, and glared at him.

"Stay out of this," he snapped, and then his face went blank.

"Come with me," said Shinsou, coolly.

As they approached Yeonha's stall, he saw her sitting on the ground with her neighbour and another boy. They were watching the Party cadre's approach with growing apprehension, for their stall was a makeshift one that was usually set up at random at various jangmadang, so that Yeonha's neighbour could avoid paying the stall tax.

Shinsou and the cadre stopped in front of the stall.

"Yeonha-ya, stand up," said Shinsou.

Yeonha stood up, looking nervous.

"Buy everything in this stall from this girl and give her the money," Shinsou said to the man.

Yeonha's two friends watched in shock as the cadre bought up the entire stall, and gave her a stack of US dollars and Yuan notes.

Yeonha herself was looking stunned. She had obviously never handled so much money in her life.

When the man had departed, loaded down with food, Shinsou heard Yeonha's neighbour asking her who her friend was.

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed the girl exultantly, "We sold everything!" She counted out Yeonha's share of the money and passed it to her, and then, casting a sidelong glance at Shinsou, giggled. "Your friend looks so hot, Yeonha-ya, and he does such interesting things! I don't mind getting to know him better!"

"Well you can't, you've got to pack your mother's things and bring them back to her!" snapped the boy, sounding angry.

Shinsou watched as the girl, still casting occasional coquettish glances at him, packed everything up and left. He decided that he might as well leave, too.

"Since you've got a medical letter, there's no point me bringing you back to school, is there?" he said to Yeonha, "You'd just get into trouble if you suddenly turn up for classes halfway through the day. I'll be off, then."

"Oh, but you're not leaving yet, are you?" said Yeonha anxiously, "Your ship only comes once a month, and I don't have much chance to talk to you!"

"But we were supposed to go out, this afternoon!" protested the boy, who was still standing next to her. He shot a jealous glance at Shinsou.

"What do you mean?" said Yeonha, looking at him, perplexed, "We were supposed to be here at the stall all day!"

"That's all right," said Shinsou with alacrity, "You can go out with your friends, now that the stall has closed. Why don't you and your friend go and – and watch a movie, or something!"

"A movie!" exclaimed the boy, "That's a good idea! We can go and get the tickets, now!"

"A movie?" said Yeonha, looking appalled. The movies screened in North Korean cinemas consisted mostly of dull government propaganda. She glanced at Shinsou. "Well then, Youngjae-oppa, you can come with us!"

"No I can't, I'm supposed to meet my father at Dongmyong Hotel," said Shinsou, trying to escape.

"Well, I'll come along with you, and we'll persuade abeonim to excuse you this afternoon, so that you can spend it with us, instead," said Yeonha, determinedly. She turned to the other boy. "Sung-jin, you can go buy tickets for us, first! We'll meet you at the movie theatre!"

"Better not buy for me," said Shinsou, "in case I can't come, after all."

"Why don't I just come along to the hotel, too," said Sung-jin, glaring at Shinsou with dislike.

"No, no, you … you have to buy the tickets before they're sold out!" said Yeonha, "We'll see you later!" She turned, and began hurrying Shinsou out of the jangmadang.

"Whoa, what's the matter?" said Shinsou, when they were out of earshot of Sung-jin, "Why didn't you just let him come with us?"

"You don't understand," said Yeonha, sounding ashamed, "He's my classmate at the foreign languages school, and I don't want him to meet my mother, or he'll know from her speech that she's a Zainichi Korean, and tell everyone else. In high school when they found that out about me, I was ostracized because of it."

"He's your classmate?" said Shinsou, "So he skipped school so that he could be with you? It sounds as if he likes you a lot!"

"He won't like me once he finds out I'm a Zainichi Korean," she said, looking downcast. "I don't really fit in at the foreign languages school. The other students there are all from a higher _songbun_ than me," – _songbun_ referred to one's social class, based on one's political and economic background – "I wouldn't have gotten into this school if it wasn't for Choe Yong-gon. I don't really belong there."

They were outside the jangmadang now, and Shinsou saw the taxi that he'd sat in earlier. It was parked by the road, and the driver was staring into space. Shinsou suddenly realised that he'd forgotten to wake the man up from his brainwashed state after they had paid him the money.

"Let's take a taxi to the hotel," he said to Yeonha, "it's too far to walk."

Yeonha seemed to think that the taxi would be too expensive, but Shinsou assured her that he had enough money. As the taxi set off, he could tell by her face that she had never sat in one before, perhaps not even a car.

"Better become invisible," he commented, "you're supposed to be ill, and if anyone from your school sees you, it won't be good."

"All right," she said, still looking around the taxi in fascination. She cheerfully linked her arm through his, and made the both of them vanish.

Shinsou was startled. He had meant that she should make herself invisible, not him as well, for although he would have liked to have disappeared, he couldn't think of an excuse as to why he should not be seen. It was just as well she seemed to have misunderstood, he reflected. It felt odd having her arm linked through his, though, but she didn't seem to think anything about it. She appeared to be watching the taxi driver, for she started asking Shinsou if he knew how to drive, and whether it was easy.

When they reached the hotel, they found Nakajima and Watanabe not at the restaurant, but at a small café on the ground floor. Park Soojin was there as well, for the restaurant had hardly any customers that day; winter was setting in and the hotel had very few guests at the moment. Watanabe, seeing that the waitresses in the restaurant had nothing to do, had managed to charm the manageress into allowing Soojin to take half an hour off and accompany them to the café.

Nakajima frowned when he saw Yeonha, but Shinsou said, "School would have ended by the time I brought her back there, so there was no point. She's got the afternoon free, and is going to watch a movie now."

"Movie?" said Nakajima, "What movie?"

Shinsou shrugged.

"You're going to watch a movie and you don't know what it is?" said Nakajima.

"Well, I'm not going," said Shinsou, "She's going with her classmate. He's gone to buy the tickets."

"He?" said Nakajima, "She's going with a boy?" He glared at Soojin, who looked at Yeonha and shrugged, with a small smile.

"Well, it isn't proper," said Nakajima disapprovingly, "Youngjae, you'd better go along and keep an eye on them."

Park Soojin and Watanabe burst out laughing at the expression on Shinsou's face. Yeonha looked surprised, but pleased, that Shinsou was coming along.

Shinsou was furious.

"Why should I go?" he burst out, "I'd just be in their way!"

"That's the idea," said Nakajima grimly.

"But – " spluttered Shinsou.

"Bring her straight back after that," added Nakajima.

Shinsou opened his mouth to protest further, but Park Soojin came forward and took his arm.

"Best get going," she said, smiling and firmly leading him to the café entrance, "You should know not to cross your father. Once he's made his mind up, it's made up."

When they were outside, Yeonha looked at Shinsou, and giggled.

"Oh, your father's so funny!" she said, "Anyone would think he was my father instead of yours!"

Shinsou gazed at her, speechless.

"You never said a truer word," he said, at last.

He shook his head. "Look, I'm not going to the movie. Besides, by now your friend will have bought tickets for you and for himself, and I won't be able to sit with you, anyway."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" she said brightly, "You can use my ticket. I'll become invisible and sneak in. The cinema's usually quite empty. We can easily find three empty seats and sit together!"

Shinsou gave a small sigh, and resigned himself to the inevitable. Pausing outside the hotel, they saw their taxi driver there, still in a brainwashed state. Shinsou had merely ordered him to continue with his work as usual. He was waiting hopefully for some passengers from the hotel, but was unlikely to have much luck, since there were so few guests at the moment. Shinsou figured that he might as well bring them to the movie theatre.

"So, what's this Sung-jin like?" asked Shinsou, as the brainwashed driver started off with their invisible selves settled in the back seat. "He's obviously interested in you."

"He has been so uptight and frustrated lately," lamented Yeonha, "I think he's desperate to defect because he'll be called up for military service soon. Military service is compulsory for males in North Korea, and it lasts ten years. He's been trying to persuade me to defect with him."

"Defect?" said Shinsou, "Well, would you?"

"I can't leave my mother," said Yeonha, "She'd be sent to a labour camp right away, if I defected. Besides, I could never leave her here, all alone."

"She could go with you," suggested Shinsou.

"Yes, but Sung-jin wants to eventually escape to South Korea by first crossing into China," said Yeonha, "and I know Eomma won't want to go to South Korea. She thinks it'll be as bad as being here. Samchon and this missionary we know, Titus, have been trying to persuade us to go to America. I think Sung-jin somehow guesses, although I didn't mention it to him. He seems desperate to get me to go with him. He feels trapped here, and has been very reckless lately, complaining about the regime."

She paused, then continued.

"It's dangerous, you know. If you're caught stealing or vandalising property, you might spend months in a labour camp, but you'd be released in the end. And nowadays you can even bribe the police into letting you off. But if you're caught criticising the regime, especially the Supreme Leader, that's serious. You'd be locked away permanently, or even executed on the spot. Sungjin has been secretly watching and reading too much foreign material that's been smuggled into the country. He's become very critical of the regime, and frustrated with life here. We watch South Korean dramas, you know, and we can see that the living conditions are so much better there. The smallest thing sets him off. And he gets jealous so easily."

"I think I had really better not turn up for the movie," said Shinsou, remembering how hostile Sung-jin had been, "I'd just be playing gooseberry – "

"No, please come," begged Yeonha, "I don't have another Zainichi Korean friend my age whom I can talk to freely, and you only come once a month."

Shinsou, of course, couldn't tell her that he wasn't a Zainichi Korean at all, and that he wasn't even Korean but Japanese. He was trying to decide if he could get out of the situation by brainwashing her, but before he could think of a solution, the taxi arrived at the cinema.

Sung-jin looked wrathful when he saw that Shinsou had come along together with Yeonha. He had already lost his temper with one of the cinema staff because, after buying the tickets, the cinema had promptly suffered a power failure, and the staff member had informed him that all shows had been cancelled for the day, but had refused to give him a refund.

Shinsou took one look at Sungjin's face, and made up his mind.

"Look, I'm leaving," he said firmly to Yeonha, "You can spend the afternoon with him. My father will probably be visiting your place tonight – I'll see you then."

He didn't wait for her to reply, but quickly strode off. He turned to look back, though, to make sure that she was with Sung-jin, and saw the two of them having a heated argument.

Shinsou watched, concerned. Sung-jin suddenly seemed to lose his head. There was a propaganda poster with a picture of the Supreme Leader next to them, and he suddenly reached out and ripped it off the wall and tore it in two, in frustration.

He then let the pieces fall to the ground, his hands shaking, realising what he had done. He looked around; the cinema staff and a small number of other movie-goers present were watching him in stunned silence.

He was unlucky. Several men, whom Shinsou later discovered were state security department officials, had been walking by, and when they saw what had happened, they began advancing in on him. Sungjin backed away, and then turned and ran. Yeonha seemed paralysed, but the officials ignored her; it was Sungjin they were after.

Shinsou hurried back, but just as he reached Yeonha, there was a sharp scream and the sound of an explosion from the alley behind the cinema. Shinsou recognised the sound; it was similar to the one produced when Chongryon Kim had made the umbrella burst into flames.

Yeonha was trembling, and she was as white as a sheet.

"Come on," said Shinsou, taking her by the arm and leading her away, "I don't think they noticed you, but just in case, you'd better get out of here, as well."

He saw that their taxi was still there. The driver had been waiting there after dropping them off, hoping that some cinema-goers might want a ride.

"Kalma Airport," Shinsou said to the driver, as they got into the taxi. He didn't know why he said it. Yeonha was looking so shaken that his first thought was to let her calm herself by looking at some aeroplanes, since she seemed so fond of them.

Yeonha linked her arm through his and made the two of them invisible, but Shinsou could still feel her trembling.

"Are you all right?" he asked, in concern.

"He's dead," she said with a small sob, her voice shaking.

Shinsou gave a small sigh. He felt shaken himself; it was the first time he had actually seen the brutality of the secret police here. What had just happened was shocking – Sungjin's life had ended so abruptly and violently, and over such a trivial matter. He put his arm around Yeonha, and she promptly burst into tears.

She had calmed down somewhat, and stopped sobbing, by the time they reached the airport. Shinsou had thought that their long-suffering taxi driver might at last get some passengers there, but the drop-off point was deserted. He had forgotten that Kalma Airport, although it had cost millions to build, had remained inactive ever since it had been completed, except for the period during the Air Festival.

Shinsou paid the driver the fare, and then dismissed him.

The airport looked extremely modern and impressive, spacious with glass panels and LED lights for decoration. The flooring was of polished marble, and glass lifts connected one storey to another. There was, however, hardly anyone around; although the facility was meant to be an international airport and was supposed to have a capacity of two thousand passengers a day, no international flights had ever landed on its runway; the only air traffic the airport had seen was a few domestic chartered flights.

The place appeared to be operating on minimal staff, and there were so few people around that the two of them felt quite odd being there, so Yeonha slipped her hand into Shinsou's and made them invisible again.

Shinsou had never met a girl who so casually took hold of a boy's hand. It was true, of course, that she needed to touch some part of him in order to make him invisible. He didn't have any rope that they could use, the way Nakajima did. He found her quite odd, and wondered if she did this to everyone.

She seemed subdued, probably still thinking about Sung-jin, but tried to talk to Shinsou about the airport. She had been there a few times, hoping to see some aircraft, but had given up after a while. They were strolling through the departure hall when Shinsou noticed two men in the distance, dressed in what looked like the pilot's black uniform of Air Koryo, the North Korean national carrier.

"Look," he said quietly to Yeonha, "those look like pilots. Let's try talking to them."

The pilots were making for a side door, so they hurried over to a corner where they would not be seen, so that Yeonha could make them visible again, and then rushed after the two airmen.

The pilots were startled, but Shinsou quickly brainwashed the both of them. It turned out that a chartered flight from Pyongyang had actually arrived the previous day at the airport. The aircraft had just had some maintenance because one of its spoilers was faulty, and the pilots said that they were now going to take the plane, an Ilyushin-62, for a short test flight before finally returning to Pyongyang.

"They're going on a test flight!" said Shinsou, looking at Yeonha, his eyes gleaming. "Shall we go along?"

Her face creased into a huge smile.

"Yes!" she said, looking excited.

Shinsou told the brainwashed pilots that they were to carry on with their test flight as usual, but that he and Yeonha were going to become invisible and come along, and that they were to lead them to the Ilyushin. He could hardly believe what they were doing, but they managed to bypass whatever airport staff were present, and soon found themselves on board the aircraft. Since only the brainwashed pilots were there, Yeonha made herself and Shinsou visible again.

This particular Ilyushin was an old aircraft, having been in service for about forty years, and its four engines were alarmingly noisy. The whine with which each engine fired up was exceptional; it was extremely high in frequency, and kept growing steadily in volume, making the rear of the plane vibrate. Shinsou winced, but Yeonha, of course, didn't notice that anything was wrong, since it was her first time on an aeroplane.

They sat behind the pilots in the cockpit during the takeoff, and Shinsou couldn't help thinking that the controls, which were arranged on a turquoise-coloured background, looked dated. Yeonha, however, was enjoying everything, and was quite overcome when the aircraft finally lifted off into the air. It was late afternoon and the weather was fair, so they had a marvellous view of the sea and Wonsan and its surroundings.

Yeonha was looking curiously at the cockpit instruments and wondering how everything worked, so Shinsou ordered the pilots to answer all her questions. He couldn't understand much of the ensuing conversation, which was in Korean and probably contained a lot of technical aviation jargon, but it was enough that she was obviously having the time of her life. She was excited at every little thing, and even the plane tilting to one side while making a turn fascinated her.

The winter days were short, and the sun was already setting when the Ilyushin completed its flight and began descending back to land. Yeonha gave a small sigh of contentment as the wheels touched the runway.

"This is the best thing that's ever happened to me," she said, looking at Shinsou and smiling blissfully, "Don't you think the sunset is beautiful?"

It was dark by the time they had disembarked and invisibly re-entered the airport terminal. Shinsou realised that by now Nakajima must be wondering what had happened to his precious daughter. He was wondering how they were going to get back to the town, for the airport was so deserted that it was unlikely any taxis or buses served it. However, he didn't have to worry, for when they entered the arrival hall, he was astonished to see a small group of tourists there, wandering around.

"Where did these people come from?" he said, taken aback.

"Oh, tourists sometimes ask to come to the airport and have a look," said Yeonha, "The airport staff will then switch the lights on and open some stores for them. But most of the items on the menu aren't available, except for some snacks and drinks."

They followed the tour group until its members began boarding their tour bus. Being invisible, they somehow managed to board the bus undetected, and hid near the back until it reached its destination, which was not Dongmyong but another hotel, Songdowon. Shinsou waited until the group had disembarked and the bus was empty, and then brainwashed the bus driver into driving them to Yeonha's apartment.

It was only when they had gotten off the bus and entered the elevator that he looked at Yeonha, who was still grinning from ear to ear because of the test flight, and realised that he had completely forgotten about adopting his vapid persona that day.

"Today was an epic fail when it came to my vapid strategy," he thought ruefully, as they emerged from the elevator, "There were just too many things going on. Well, at least she's forgotten about Sung-jin for the time being." He frowned, remembering the terrible and grisly end Yeonha's classmate had come to. "Never mind," he told himself, "I'll give being vapid one last try, next month. If it still doesn't work, then I suppose I'll have to do what Kaneshiro suggested – give up, be friends with her, try to help Nakajima get them to defect ..."

With that thought in mind, he resignedly followed Yeonha back to the apartment, where Park Soojin and an impatient Nakajima were waiting for them.


	13. Masikryong Resort

**13 MASIKRYONG RESORT**

November progressed into December, and unexpectedly, a series of severe winter storms that moved across the Sea of Japan resulted in the suspension of the Shiramine's next sail till the following month. Nakajima chafed at the delay, for he was impatient to find out if Watanabe had unearthed any more information about the drug dealer Baek, who had left the jangmadang shortly after they had encountered Yeonha at her stall, and disappeared in a car that had come to pick him up.

Shinsou suspected that Nakajima was also anxious to see Park Soojin and Yeonha again. As for himself, he didn't mind missing one trip; it meant that he didn't have to bother about his boss's daughter, and he was busy with his training. After so many months, he finally felt as if he was making progress. He was still working intensively on his karate, for he suspected that Choe was probably making Yeonha train harder, and he didn't know when he might have to spar with her or with someone else over there in Wonsan again.

He was also finally feeling more at home speaking Korean. He could help the church Kims man their drinks stall more easily now, chatting with the church-goers, although he would conveniently look blank whenever any of them tried to persuade him to go upstairs for one of the church services.

He was also slowly making progress with his North Korean accent. For vocabulary there were quite a number of phrases to take note of, which meant different things in the North and South. For example, " _mije_ " meant "Made in America" in South Korea, but "American imperialist" in the North. Makeover Girl was also getting him to read North Korean newspapers, such as KCNA (Korean Central News Agency), which were often full of propaganda and rhetoric against Japan and the United States. Some of it was so extreme that it was almost funny.

Nakajima had, by this time, also ordered Ryoko to join Shinsou's classes with Makeover Girl, for he suspected that they might need to use her in their quest to interrogate Baek, in which case she was going to have to acquire the correct accent. Makeover Girl had gotten hold of some videos that showed North Korean newscasters reading the news, and suggested that Shinsou and Ryoko try imitating their speech.

This didn't work, however, for the newscasters' style of reading was so exaggerated and overdone, and the content so blatantly full of propaganda, that it was impossible to take it seriously; and Shinsou would usually dissolve into helpless laughter after about thirty seconds of watching. There was even one newscaster who started weeping on air while announcing the news of the previous Supreme Leader's death. Ryoko, on the other hand, would sit there looking totally blank; her Korean was still so poor that she couldn't even understand what the newsreader was saying.

Kaneshiro, who often came to watch his trainees' progress, intervened at this point. He told Ryoko that she, too, would cease classes with Teacher Kim, and learn Korean from Kaneshiro himself instead. He spoke to her entirely in the North Korean manner, and although she was slow to learn, patiently kept her at it.

"This is no laughing matter, Hirano," he said to her firmly, "With your shapeshifting ability, you'll be able to infiltrate places that even Nakajima and Watanabe can't, and you must be able to act the part. Don't let us down."

"Yes, Kaneshiro-san," she said, looking frightened. To her credit, she really was trying very hard.

January came around, and the team found themselves setting forth on the Shiramine once again on a cold, clear winter's day. Shinsou, making the routine stop at the galley with the bottled water, found Lee determinedly following Ryoko around as usual, talking nonstop.

"I see that the two of you are getting on like a house on fire," Shinsou remarked, when Ryoko had somehow managed to get rid of her admirer, and joined him in the side room.

"He's changed his tune," said Ryoko, looking harassed, "Suddenly, instead of history and politics, he keeps singing my praises."

"Well, you like that, don't you?" said Shinsou, "and have you got Yoshida's hairs? Don't forget to take them!"

Ryoko went red, because Shinsou had scolded her roundly for letting Lee see her transform back to her cat-headed self. She had begged him not to tell Nakajima or Kaneshiro.

"There's no way I'm going to forget about the hairs any more," she now said dolefully, "Lee has declared that he'll help me keep up the disguise since I want it, and keeps reminding me every half an hour that I'm supposed to take them. He even reminds me that I'm not supposed to say 'miaow'."

"Does he?" said Shinsou approvingly, "Well, he's turning out to be much more useful than I would ever have imagined, then. You can tell him that your union has my full support."

She shot him a dirty look as he left the galley, grinning.

.

.

When the Kirogi docked at Wonsan, Nakajima told Shinsou that he was going ashore to look for Watanabe so that they could follow the men with the crates once more. Shinsou didn't hear from him again that night.

Watanabe, however, appeared early the following morning, and escorted Shinsou off the ship.

"You'll have to amuse yourself today, Youngjae," he informed Shinsou, "I managed to find out that Baek frequents a bar in one of the seedier districts here, and after he got teleported away with the crates last night, your supposed 'father' and I went there to check it out. We spent the better part of the night hanging around the bar, but he didn't turn up. Your 'father' says he plans to scout around Wonsan for most of today, and told me to tell you to turn up at Soojin's apartment at seven tonight as usual. You'll be on your own today, for I have to drive a tour bus out of Wonsan this morning. I'll be away all day, and I'm getting you off the ship now because I won't be back in time this evening to do it."

Shinsou was quite agreeable to spending the day on his own, and he felt that things were finally looking up. It was just bad timing, he reflected, that Yeonha's jacket had been stolen and Choe had turned up, that first time they had visited. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to buy her the new jacket, or had to spar with her. And on his second visit, she had just happened to be at the jangmadang by chance. Most trips should be like today, he reasoned – Yeonha should be attending school during the day, and he would only need to spend a few hours with her at night while Nakajima and Park Soojin got together. Babysitting his boss's daughter for a few hours a month seemed tolerable.

He had just come to this conclusion, and Watanabe had taken his leave of him, when he felt something tugging at his sleeve.

"Youngjae-oppa!" It was Yeonha's voice.

"Yeonha?" he said, startled. He could feel his heart sinking.

"Quick, get into that alley so that I can make you invisible!" she said.

" _What are you doing here_?" he hissed at her, as they ducked into the alley, and he saw himself vanishing as her hand slipped into his.

"I found out from _samchon_ that your ship would be arriving last night," she whispered, "It's been ages since I've seen you, so I wanted to spend more time with you. I told samchon I needed to be at the jangmadang today, and asked him to forge a letter for me again so that I could skip school; and then I came to the docks here and managed to spot the ship." She hadn't recognised Watanabe in the minder's disguise.

"Yeonha!" said Shinsou, appalled, "You can't keep doing this! You should attend your classes. I can always visit you at night!"

They were still in the alley, and she allowed the both of them to become visible, so that he could see her expression.

"You don't know what it's like being a Zainichi Korean here, Youngjae-oppa," she said, looking at him reproachfully, "it's difficult to make friends. I can get to know people, but only up to a certain point before I have to stop getting closer to them. I'm always watching what I say so that I don't give myself away, and I don't want to bring any of my friends home to visit, or they'll meet my mother and find out where we come from."

"Don't you have any friends who are Zainichi Korean like you?" asked Shinsou.

"No," said Yeonha, looking depressed, "We knew some, once, but they found out that my mother often sees men, and after that they didn't want to associate with us any more."

Shinsou was privately cursing Nakajima for getting him into this fix. He wasn't a Zainichi Korean either, but he couldn't tell her that.

"I feel comfortable talking to you because you're a Zainichi Korean, like me," confided Yeonha, "I don't need to be watchful of what I say, and I can say anything I like. And you come from another country; we have virtually no chance to meet foreigners here in North Korea ... I can get a different perspective of things, talking to you. So, I want to make the most of every visit that you make here."

Shinsou could see his vapid strategy rapidly dying a natural death.

"Do you mean to tell me that you plan to skip school every time I come?" he asked.

"Yes," said Yeonha, timidly.

"You're going to get into trouble if your school finds out," he pointed out.

"But it's reasonable to fall ill once a month," she protested, "some of my classmates fall sick even more often than that. I'll be careful, I won't get caught!"

Shinsou drew a deep breath.

"You know, Yeonha, the Kirogi may stop coming to Wonsan, one day," he told her, solemnly.

"Will it?" she said, looking sad.

"Yes," he said, "or the company may transfer me to another vessel that sails elsewhere. I won't be able to make any more visits here, once that happens."

She looked so disconsolate that he suddenly pitied her. He knew that life in North Korea wasn't easy; the regime controlled every aspect of people's lives. There was propaganda everywhere – murals, banners, posters. Propaganda vans roved the city and their loudspeakers blared from early morning to late at night. Propaganda was especially taught in schools, too, to indoctrinate the young.

Shinsou was aware, as well, that Yeonha's neighbourhood _inminban_ organised self-criticism sessions for its members every week. North Korean citizens also had to attend three rallies to honour the Supreme Leader every year, standing and marching for hours in the winter when it was freezing, and doing the same in the summer when it could go over forty degrees. Teenagers were sent to the villages for two weeks of farming once a year, working twelve, sometimes fourteen hours a day, using their hands because there were no machines.

Life here was hard, especially when you compared it to other countries like Japan. But Yeonha didn't wallow in self-pity; it was the only life she knew, and she had no choice but to get along as best she could. She had been polite and cheerful whenever he had come to visit, so far, and she had never complained about anything, until today.

Shinsou looked at her forlorn face, and finally relented. The labour camps here, he knew, were real. The secret police ran them, and people were beaten and tortured and starved to death there, not only the offenders themselves, but their entire families as well. Thousands had died in these camps.

If he could persuade Yeonha to defect and find a better life, surely he should. He had seen with his own eyes the cruel reality of life here when Sung-jin had died. Compared with all this, his own reluctance to get involved with his boss's affairs, and the inconvenience it posed him, suddenly seemed small and petty.

"Well, we can make the most of my visits here, while they last," he said, quietly, "What do you want to do, today?"

"I don't know," she said, now looking slightly more hopeful, "what would you like to do?"

"You could give me a tour of the town, I suppose," he said doubtfully, "I haven't seen everything here. Oh, wait …" he suddenly had an idea, "I know that your _samchon_ will be driving a tour group around, today. Do you know where his tour agency is? Maybe you could make us invisible, so that we can tag along inside his tour bus!"

She smiled. "That's a brilliant idea!" she said.

Titus's tour agency wasn't too far away. When they arrived, the tour group was just starting to board the bus. It wasn't a very large group, consisting of a sprinkling of people from various different countries, so the bus still had a fair number of vacant seats. Shinsou and Yeonha somehow managed to invisibly sneak on board without bumping into anyone, and hid themselves near the rear of the bus.

The tour guide wasn't Titus, which Shinsou thought was fortunate in case they became visible by accident and were recognised. As the bus set off, they discovered that the group wasn't going around Wonsan that day, but were headed for Masikryong, a ski resort located at Mt Taehwa, about forty kilometres away.

The bus took more than an hour to get there, driving slowly because it didn't have any snow chains. The roads were much worse than those found within the city, covered with ice and snow, unpaved, bumpy and full of potholes, and passing through unlit tunnels. Farmers were occasionally seen, dragging sleds loaded with firewood across the icy landscape, for they were too poor to afford normal fuel. Shinsou saw several ox-drawn carts being used for transport, as well. He was also shocked to see what looked like middle school children digging ditches and clearing snow and ice from the road by hand, and even smaller children helping to fix the potholes on the road.

When they arrived at their destination, they saw several ski slopes, and a hotel which was a marked contrast to the poverty that they had just seen on the rural roads. It was grand and luxurious, and was another of the Supreme Leader's prestige projects. What was surreal was that, except for their tour group, the entire resort appeared to be largely empty of people.

Shinsou and Yeonha waited till the group had disembarked, and then managed to slip away from the bus without anyone being the wiser about their presence.

They had a look around the hotel, which was large and modern-looking, a far cry from the Dongmyong and Songdowon hotels in Wonsan. Outside the hotel was a large stone tablet declaring that it was " _the work of the Dear Supreme Leader who devoted hard work and heart and soul to make our people the happiest and most civilised people on earth_ ". The visitors' centre was also full of mind-numbing propaganda, with countless photos of the Supreme Leader's portly self inspecting the resort while construction had been in progress.

The hotel foyer was vast, with a wood-panelled reception. Shinsou and Yeonha later also observed a well-stocked bar, a massage service, and an indoor swimming pool. They also managed to peek inside some of the bedroom suites while they were being vacuumed. The rooms were clean and big, and the bathrooms modern. Because he couldn't see Yeonha's invisible face, Shinsou didn't realise till later how overwhelmed she was feeling, seeing all this; her own apartment was so small and spartan, and the toilet often couldn't flush.

The hotel had skiing equipment for rent, so Shinsou suggested that they have an early lunch at the hotel restaurant, after which he could try teaching Yeonha how to ski, if she wanted. He had noticed a few other tourists inside the hotel who were not with any tour group, but had come on their own, and so he decided that they could become visible again, and pretend that they were North Korean tourists from Pyongyang.

Even the restaurant was not devoid of propaganda. Shinsou saw brochures there featuring the food of North Korea: besides photos of rice cakes, kimchi and noodles, it also proclaimed with conviction: " _Under the wise guidance of the peerless Supreme Leaders, the Korean food with a long history has made a brilliant development. It is well known in the world._ "

Yeonha looked quite overcome while having lunch in the restaurant. She had obviously never dined in such an expensive place before. She seemed speechless when Shinsou paid for the meal; the bill was more than what her mother earned in a month. As they walked out of the restaurant, she looked at him and quietly said, "Japan's different from North Korea, isn't it?"

He looked at her, wondering what to say. Because the North Korean government controlled all information, the people had no access to foreign newspapers, books or TV programmes. Information about the outside world, such as foreign movies, had to be illegally smuggled into the country. Yeonha had watched such movies, and so she knew, contrary to what the government wanted the people to believe, that things were quite different elsewhere.

Even so, Shinsou, bearing in mind Kaneshiro's warning about being careful about what he said, had been vague when talking about Japan to her. At the jangmadang he had tried not to say how much more advanced it was there, not wanting to sound superior; he had mostly told her that Japan also had beautiful scenery like North Korea, with mountains and lakes and beaches, and about what he studied in school.

She was now looking quizzically at him.

"You spend a lot of money, and you don't think much about it, as if it's normal to spend that much," she said, "You didn't seem surprised at how grand the bedrooms are, here. You were surprised that Kalma Airport has no airplanes. There must be more at the airports in Japan, isn't that so? You know how to drive, so there must be lots of cars there. You even know how to ski!"

"Japan's different," admitted Shinsou, looking at her, "but I didn't know if I should tell you how much. We were in a crowded place, when we were talking about it. Someone could have overheard. If there had been an informant around, the conversation could have gone into your file."

They had reached the ski rental shop. It cost forty US dollars for a full kit, which besides skis and poles, included jacket, pants and gloves, and helmet and goggles. Shinsou didn't fancy spending that much – it would have come up to eighty dollars for the both of them – so he brainwashed the attendant into giving them everything for free.

They went out to the beginner's slope, which was just above the hotel, and saw that some of the tour group had also rented equipment and were playing around in the snow. Fortunately, Watanabe wasn't around, and no one else suspected that Shinsou and Yeonha weren't tourists from some other part of North Korea. The government minders who were following the tour group weren't skiers, so they stayed around the beginner's slope, and quite a number of the group took advantage of this and wandered off to the more difficult slopes, relieved to roam freely for a change and get away from being supervised constantly.

Shinsou showed Yeonha how to put the skis on, and then told her to spend some time getting used to moving around in them. It took more than an hour before she got the hang of walking a little in them, pushing herself around with the help of the ski poles, and also sidestepping. There was a lot of falling down, but she was laughing and enjoying it.

She managed to sidestep up the slope a little way, and then slide down on her skis. After doing this quite a number of times, Shinsou finally decided that they might as well take the ski lift up to the top and see whether they could make it down.

He found the ski lift incredibly slow – it took almost forty minutes to reach the summit, and they had to change lifts twice, which Yeonha found difficult because she still couldn't control her skis. However, she was finding the lift ride fun, otherwise. There was patriotic music blaring all the way up as they slowly ascended.

Yeonha, seeing how high up they were, became quite excited once they were at the top. Before Shinsou could give her any instructions, she shuffled over to the edge of the slope and pushed off, letting herself plunge down. Of course, she didn't know how to stop, so she kept going faster and faster, and then decided to try stopping by simply lying down flat. This didn't work, and she continued tumbling down, until by the time she'd reached the bottom, she had lost all her gear – hat, goggles, skis, poles, even gloves.

Shinsou had hurried after her in alarm once he saw her going over, but was relieved to find her relatively unhurt, and laughing even, at the bottom.

He retrieved her gear, and they then decided that they'd done enough skiing for one day. Before returning the gear, however, they took the ski lift up to the top of the tallest slope, because there was a large restaurant there with panoramic views of the surroundings, and had something to eat while enjoying the view. Shinsou, looking at Yeonha, was amused to see that even hot chocolate and cake seemed to be a novelty.

It was getting on to late afternoon. Nakajima expected them to be back at the apartment by seven, and Watanabe had said that his bus would be back late, so after returning the ski gear, Shinsou looked around for some earlier mode of transport back. They were hanging around the front of the hotel, when another tour group arrived. Shinsou waited till all the tour members had removed their luggage from the bus and entered the hotel, and then went over to the bus driver and brainwashed him just as he was about to drive off.

The bus driver said that the tour group would be staying overnight, and that he was going to park the bus at the rear of the hotel. Shinsou discovered that the driver wouldn't be doing anything for the rest of the evening, so he ordered him to drive the two of them back to Wonsan before returning to the hotel again.

As the bus bounced and slid over icy, potholed roads, Yeonha turned to Shinsou, her eyes shining. "I can't believe what we've been doing," she said earnestly, "the hotel – it was so grand! I've never been into any building that looks like that! And I actually tried skiing! That's something that only rich people do. Thank you, oppa, for an enjoyable day!"

"Don't mention it," he said, smiling rather resignedly. All the things that people took for granted back in Japan – shopping, watching foreign films, spending money, flying on an aeroplane, skiing … these were nothing to him, but something significant to her.

At least he'd given her a reprieve for one day, he thought, before she went back to the drudgery of school life with classmates she felt uncomfortable with, enduring daily doses of propaganda, being poor, and living in caution, knowing that you had to watch everything you said or did.

Shinsou realised that his vapid strategy was all but dead. Well, at least Yeonha's a nice girl, he reflected, reluctantly. It would have been far more difficult if Nakajima's daughter had turned out to be someone horrible. He wondered how long this assignment was going to last, and when he should start broaching the topic of defecting to her. "Maybe next month," he thought, glancing at her happy face, before turning back to the window and looking out again at the gradually darkening landscape.


	14. The Simulation Room

**14 THE SIMULATION ROOM**

The months seemed to fly past after the outing to Masikryong. Shinsou gave up on his vapid strategy, and resigned himself to spending the entire day with Yeonha whenever the Kirogi docked at Wonsan.

She was always there the morning after the ship arrived, waiting for him to be escorted out by Watanabe. Nakajima was not around; because nights were currently taken up at the bar looking for the drug smuggler Baek, he now spent time with Park Soojin during the day instead. Watanabe, muttering that he wasn't in North Korea to run a matchmaking agency, forged medical letters for both Soojin and Yeonha every month so that they could have the day free.

Watanabe didn't tell Nakajima that Yeonha was skipping school, and Shinsou's supervisor didn't think much about where his trainee was going during the day. He was distracted by the fact that Choe Yong-gon, angered by Yeonha's loss to Shinsou in the match, and even more by the fact that Park Soojin seemed to be enjoying her old flame's monthly visits, had stopped giving the mother and daughter the monthly allowance he normally provided for their living expenses. It was a simple solution for Nakajima to give an equivalent amount of money to Soojin instead. It didn't amount to much, for the standard of living in North Korea was extremely low. Indeed, he gave her much more than that, for he was trying to persuade her to stop seeing men in her apartment, and the money he gave her was more than enough to cover her loss of earnings.

After the Masikryong outing, Shinsou did some thinking when he got back to Tokyo, and concluded that there were some things he needed to take action on.

His main concerns were the cigarette lighter that Yeonha had given him, the peculiar penchant she had for holding hands, and her enthusiasm for spending as much time with him as possible. It was difficult to ascertain what all these meant; she was a nice girl and he enjoyed her company, but he was dead certain that he was not about to get into a relationship with his boss's daughter.

Besides, he was also still in limbo with regards to Ayumi. Although they had broken up and she was probably with someone else now, on his part he had meant the breakup to be temporary, and he had said that they should separate only until his assignment was over. He meant to keep his word. And so, he planned to wait until the assignment had come to a conclusion and then contact her, and confirm that both sides agreed that they were no longer together. Until he did that, he didn't feel free to pursue a relationship with anyone else.

As a result, when Shinsou next arrived in Wonsan, he came armed with a length of rope, and the next time Yeonha needed to make the both of them invisible, he had insisted on using it, saying that it was more secure. She was a little surprised but didn't seem to mind too much, which he took as a positive sign that she might not be interested in him in that manner, after all.

He also reminded her often that his visits to Wonsan might end one day, so that she would realise that when it came to having a relationship, there was simply no hope. And he made sure that he didn't say or do anything that hinted at being romantic. She was a sensible girl and, except for the holding of hands in the beginning, had on the whole only been polite and friendly. She didn't behave like Ayumi, who liked to coquette, and openly expected him to kiss her or make love to her.

He assumed, with typical masculine ignorance, that all these precautions were adequate to prevent any feelings from developing. He didn't realise that Yeonha merely figured that he was being practical in not openly showing affection; for in North Korea, besides the "Fashion Police", the Ministry of People's Security also ran patrols that acted as a sort of "Dating Police", whose duty it was to act as law enforcement with regards to "assaults against public decency".

Students were considered too young for dating. If a couple was caught behaving intimately in public by the Dating Police, their educational establishments would be notified, and a member of the Youth League would then call the students in question and interrogate them. Most couples, when caught, would usually bribe their way out of being reported.

Shinsou also didn't realise that Yeonha, although not demonstrative in the way Ayumi was, thought about him all the time, and looked forward all month to seeing him. She also did calculated things such as bring him to a house party that she had been invited to, where quite a number of boys ended up hanging around her, since she was one of the prettiest girls there. She was hoping, of course, that Shinsou might become jealous, or perceive her as a desirable target.

It didn't quite work out the way she hoped, however. Shinsou was glad to see her enjoying so much attention; it reduced the possibility that she might be interested in him. He sat in a corner and tried to appear unobtrusive, for he wasn't sure whether his North Korean accent could pass muster yet, but a couple of girls soon began hovering around him. Yeonha, observing this, hurriedly extricated him before he got snared by someone else, and left the party early.

Otherwise, during the colder months they sometimes just spent the day at Yeonha's flat and watched movies, especially if the weather was bad. Nakajima had bought Park Soojin a "notel" – a uniquely North Korean name for a combined "notebook" and "television". It was a small, portable China-made media player that could be used to watch DVDs or content stored on USB sticks. Yeonha now no longer needed to go to her neighbour's to watch foreign movies.

Shinsou was quite tickled by the gadget, because it was perfect for overcoming the two obstacles to watching foreign media in North Korea: surveillance and power outages. It had USB and SD card ports, and a built-in TV and radio tuner. It could be charged using a car battery – something that was found in every North Korean household because electricity was so unreliable.

To avoid getting caught, Yeonha would load in a North Korean DVD, and then watch her foreign movies on a USB stick. If anyone came into the flat to check (the _inminban_ leader had the keys to every household in the block and had the right to enter whenever she wanted), she could pull the USB stick out and easily hide it, since it was so small. She would then tell the _inminban_ leader, who could feel the heat from the notel to check whether or not it had been recently used, that she had been watching North Korean films on the DVD.

.

.

In the end, Shinsou didn't talk much to Yeonha about defecting to the U.S. He soon realised that she wasn't the one who needed to be persuaded, but Park Soojin, for Yeonha was an obedient girl and would generally agree to whatever her mother chose to do.

When he casually mentioned the topic in passing, Yeonha said that both Titus and Watanabe felt that she and her mother should consider defecting. Although it would be dangerous if they were caught, they also had a high chance of escaping because her invisibility Quirk could conceal the both of them.

Yeonha herself, Shinsou observed, was excited at the idea of going to another country, especially now that she'd heard a fair bit about Japan from him. The regime did its best to brainwash its people into believing that all other countries were just like North Korea, with its frequent power failures and poor infrastructure, and all hardships and food shortages were blamed on the United States, who imposed sanctions on them. But North Koreans, especially those who lived in cities, had seen enough foreign TV shows and movies smuggled in on USB sticks to know that this wasn't true.

Yeonha could speak both English and Japanese, and with her powerful Quirk, the thought of defecting was not so frightening to her, so long as she was with her mother or people she knew, such as Titus. She had a keen curiosity to know and see everything, and she was still bombarding Shinsou with questions about Japan, so much so that he one day joked that she ought to stow away on his ship so that she could come to Japan and see what it was like, for herself.

He didn't realise until later how much he was going to regret making this statement.

.

.

The watering hole that Baek visited was called Koryo Bar, and it was frequented by drug dealers. The drug trade was lucrative in North Korea, and meth, in particular, was found everywhere, being cheap and easy to make. It was especially popular with city dwellers, who had more money to spend.

Baek had come to the bar a few times while Nakajima and Watanabe were staking it out, but they had been unable to speak to him. He was busy conducting business, and it would also have looked extremely odd if they'd tried to strike up a conversation with him. Most customers at the bar either kept to themselves, or had already pre-arranged some meeting.

He appeared to have a chameleon-like Quirk which was almost as good as being invisible, for he would disappear rapidly once he was done at the bar. Nakajima and Watanabe couldn't make it too obvious that they were following him, so when he departed they would normally wait one or two minutes before leaving themselves, and by the time they came out, he was nowhere to be seen. And although Nakajima lingered patiently and invisibly outside the bar for several nights, waiting for him to come out, they still kept losing him once he activated his Quirk.

Watanabe suggested that Nakajima capture Yoshi the dog and closet him away somewhere, so that Shinsou could brainwash the men who came on board to collect the crates, and interrogate them. But Nakajima pointed out that there were often other deckhands hanging around the hold around that time, making it difficult to dispose of the dog discreetly.

Nakajima felt that the only solution was for Shinsou to try brainwashing Baek inside the bar once he appeared. He could then ask the drug dealer about the crates, their destination, and the identity of the man with the Warp Gate Quirk.

There had been some nights when the two Japanese agents had ended up sitting around the bar for the entire night because Baek didn't turn up, and they had noticed the bar manager beginning to look suspiciously at them. Customers seldom stayed in the bar that long, and the manager was afraid that they might actually be government officials monitoring the premises, because it was hosting illegal drug transactions.

"We'll have to stop hanging around the bar all night," Nakajima told Kaneshiro resignedly, once they had returned to Tokyo. "We could always just take turns to enter the bar and then leave and change into another disguise and come back in again, but that will be tedious. It'll be easier to get Hirano to help. She can morph into one of the waitresses in the bar, and keep an eye out all night for Baek instead."

He gave Kaneshiro several photos and videos he had discreetly taken of the interior of Koryo Bar and its occupants, and also hair samples for Ryoko, for he had also managed to invisibly sneak up on the two waitresses working in the bar and cut off some of their hair.

"All right, Hirano," said Kaneshiro, when he had summoned Ryoko and Shinsou to room six, "Here's a photo of Baek, the drug dealer. The team will be monitoring the bar every second evening that you're in Wonsan. The manager doesn't like customers that sit inside the bar for the entire night, so what we'll do is to have you shapeshift into one of the waitresses. Keep an eye out for Baek while you're serving the customers. Nakajima, Watanabe and Shinsou will be waiting nearby, and they'll give you a cell phone when you're there. If you see Baek coming into the bar, give Nakajima a call, and they'll come over."

"Miaow, all right," said Ryoko, looking terrified.

"Now, there are two waitresses," continued Kaneshiro, "we've got videos for you to watch, so that you can observe their mannerisms. There's one who's more deadpan and then there's one who flirts with the customers. You'll impersonate the deadpan one, which will be easier for you. But just in case she calls in sick or gets transferred elsewhere, you had better practise being the flirty one as well."

"Oh, miaow," moaned Ryoko apprehensively, after watching the flirty waitress in one of the videos, "I can't do that!"

"Yes you can and you will," said Kaneshiro, with a hint of steel in his voice, "You'll practise with Makeover Girl until you get it right."

"So, Nakajima's going to disguise himself as a drug dealer, and Watanabe and I will be his henchmen, I suppose," said Shinsou, looking at the photos. The dealers usually came in groups of three of four. Often there was one leader who discussed most of the deal, while the rest just sat by, ready to intervene or do something threatening if the other party wasn't being cooperative.

"Yes," said Kaneshiro, "The other two have done similar things often enough in the past, so we only need you and Hirano to practise. We'll have the first session with Makeover Girl tomorrow."

.

.

One of the Support staff brought Shinsou and Ryoko to the simulation room in the Disguises Section the next day. It was totally empty, except for one table with several chairs in the middle of the room, and a sideboard next to one wall, with a variety of glasses and bottles of alcohol and beer cans arranged on it.

The Support staff member was a skinny young man with an ingratiating grin. His code name was Mirage, and his Quirk was illusion. He had with him the photos and videos of Koryo Bar that Nakajima had taken, and, looking carefully at them, placed his hand on one wall of the room, and transformed it into a likeness of the bar.

"Miaow, it looks like we're really inside the bar!" breathed Ryoko, looking around in amazement. There were even chairs and tables all around them, although they were only illusions.

Mirage grinned at them, and then went over to the sideboard, humming to himself and still referring to the photos, to check if the correct brands of alcohol had been placed there.

"Oh, and by the way," said Ryoko, as she and Shinsou sat down at the one real table to wait for Makeover Girl, "You've got mail. The General Office passed me this to give to you."

She took a large envelope out and handed it to Shinsou. He tore it open, and out fell an alumnus magazine for Yuuei, with a picture of the principal, Nezu, on the cover.

"Miaow, how interesting," said Ryoko, looking at it, fascinated, "it must be so nice to have graduated from Yuuei, and receive newsletters like these."

"I get too many of these," said Shinsou, not looking too interested, "I don't have time to read them. I consider it junk mail, and it usually ends up in the bin."

"Miaow, how can you say that?" said Ryoko, looking shocked, "If I was a graduate of Yuuei I'd love to receive mail like that!"

"Well, you can have it, if you want," said Shinsou, tossing it over to her.

"Miaow, no," said Ryoko, glaring at him, "you don't appreciate what you've got. Bring it back and read it!" She brought it over, and planted it firmly on his lap.

Shinsou was thinking how silly she was being, when Kaneshiro walked into the room with Makeover Girl.

The junior supervisor was talking to Makeover Girl, but he happened to glance at the Yuuei magazine, which Shinsou had again placed on the table, and his eyes widened slightly. He picked it up, and looked at it thoughtfully.

"What is it?" asked Shinsou, surprised at his supervisor's reaction.

"Your ex-principal," said Kaneshiro, gazing intently at the magazine cover, "he's not human but has a Quirk!"

"Yes," said Shinsou, puzzled, "what about it?"

"That dog in the hold of the ship," said Kaneshiro, a gleam in his eyes, "It guards the crates so carefully, there must be something significant about them. I'd wager the dog has some sort of Quirk that's being used to modify the contents of the crates in some way!"

"Oh miaow," said Ryoko, looking at him, wide-eyed.

"I'm going to talk to Nakajima later about this," said Kaneshiro, handing the magazine back to Shinsou.

"You can keep the magazine too," offered Shinsou, but Ryoko said firmly and indignantly, "Miaow, I've wanted to get into Yuuei all my life. You should show more appreciation and treasure and keep that magazine!"

Shinsou shook his head, privately wishing that she wasn't going to practise with Makeover Girl so that he could brainwash her into silence.

Makeover Girl and Kaneshiro were now having a small argument over Shinsou's disguise. She seemed disgruntled that Kaneshiro was there, and considered him to be encroaching on her turf, which was to select a suitable guise. She was miffed when he hinted that Shinsou's deckhand disguise hadn't been ideal.

"It looks a bit too near his real age," Kaneshiro was saying critically, "he could have looked older, and homelier, as well."

"Not you, too!" said Makeover Girl, perplexed, "He can't look too old – didn't you tell me that Nakajima wanted to pass him off as his son, for some reason? And what's all this about being ugly? I devised an ugly guise for him, but he said that Nakajima made him choose this one in the end!"

"If he looked uglier he might attract less female attention," said Kaneshiro, "there are girls giving him cigarette lighters over there."

As both Makeover Girl and Ryoko knew nothing about the significance of lighters in North Korea as gifts, the two of them looked totally mystified.

"I did suggest the deckhand disguise," admitted Makeover Girl, "that was because he was new at the time, and his acting still wasn't good. Why does the Directorate insist on sending new recruits for assignments before I've had time to train them thoroughly? I suggested this disguise because he was going to have to use it for months, and to pull it off he'd have to be comfortable with it. It still looks different enough from his real self."

She said that she could make Shinsou fatter for the henchman role, but Kaneshiro said that there weren't that many fat people in North Korea because malnutrition was such a large problem. In the end they agreed that Shinsou could just look older, around forty or so, and change his hair by wearing a wig. He had to wear shades, because many of the drug dealers' henchmen were doing that, and this would add to the disguise.

"These people are so peculiar," said Makeover Girl, peering at the photos Nakajima had taken, "why do they wear shades in a bar when it's so dim?"

"For the same reason that security personnel normally wear shades," said Kaneshiro, "so that no one can see where they're looking, or who they're looking at."

Makeover Girl started putting makeup on Shinsou. Kaneshiro, in the meantime, told Ryoko to begin impersonating the deadpan waitress first.

Ryoko swallowed a hair, and promptly changed into the flirtatious waitress.

Kaneshiro raised his eyebrows.

"Oops," said Ryoko, looking nervously at him.

"Hirano," said Kaneshiro severely, "did you mix those hairs up?"

"Sorry, Kaneshiro-san," said Ryoko, mournfully.

"Well, swallow one of the deadpan waitress's hairs, now," ordered Kaneshiro.

Ryoko tried another hair, and morphed into the deadpan waitress.

"Did you study Nakajima's videos like I told you to?" asked Kaneshiro.

"Yes," said Ryoko, gulping, "I – the flirty one's really hard to imitate!"

But Kaneshiro's attention was now on Shinsou. Makeover Girl had finished with the makeup. She gave Shinsou a wig, and he then put the shades on.

"Ooo!" said Ryoko, "Those look really sexy on you!"

"Hirano, you make my skin crawl," said Shinsou. He brought a gun out, and fingered it.

"But it's true," sighed Ryoko, "And you do look much older, but you look lean and mean. You're a lean, mean, loving mach – "

She stopped, because Shinsou, in one measured, chilling move, had silently brought the gun up, and was now pressing the nozzle into her head.

"Oh, miaow," she said, looking at him, her eyes wide and terrified.

"Get me a drink," said Shinsou, expressionless.

"Miaow, all right," squeaked Ryoko, looking frightened. She hurried off to the sideboard, and began fiddling with the bottles there.

"Shinsou," said Kaneshiro, warningly.

"It isn't loaded," said Shinsou coolly, lowering the gun.

"I must say, you don't need to act much, for this role," said Makeover Girl, watching him in fascination, "You make a very good emotionless killer."

Shinsou wasn't sure if Makeover Girl was paying him a compliment or not. First he'd been told that he had a villain's Quirk, and now he was being informed that he made a good killer. He quietly kept the gun away.

Kaneshiro was looking speculatively at Shinsou, but turned abruptly as a crash sounded; Ryoko had forgotten that the other tables in the room were only illusions. She had tried placing a tray with a drink on one, and it had promptly fallen to the floor.

"Hirano!" said Makeover Girl angrily, "What are you doing?"

"Sorry," said Ryoko, looking abashed.

Mirage promptly came forward with a mop, and started cleaning the mess up.

"Hirano," said Kaneshiro sternly, going over to her, "You can't be careless like this when you're really at Koryo Bar! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Kaneshiro-san," said Ryoko, almost in tears, "I'm sorry."

"And once you've shapeshifted into someone else, you'll have to automatically stop saying Miaow," added Kaneshiro. "Now, while Mirage cleans this mess, I'm going to go through all the different types of alcohol with you, and the type of glasses you're supposed to serve them in."

He was busy, drilling her for a while. In the meantime, Makeover Girl removed Shinsou's makeup, and then made him reapply it, to see if he could do it on his own. Once he'd done it to her satisfaction, she noted how many bar customers were smoking in Nakajima's video, and gave Shinsou a cigarette, telling him he'd better get used to lighting up, as well.

Ryoko, walking toward the table carrying a tray of beer, suddenly noticed Shinsou smoking.

"Ooo," she said, looking fascinated, "Shinsou-kun, I would really never think that it's you. You look so cool. You make me think of some tough hitman."

Shinsou casually blew a generous cloud of smoke into her face, making her cough.

Kaneshiro, however, was looking disapprovingly at the cigarette.

"Where did that come from?" he demanded.

Shinsou glanced at Makeover Girl.

"I gave it to him," said Makeover Girl nonchalantly, "He's got to learn to smoke, doesn't he? There're too many disguises he'll have to use in this career that require it. Most Japanese men smoke. Same for most North Korean men."

"Is that cigarette real?" enquired Kaneshiro.

"Of course it's real!" spluttered Makeover Girl, "What kind of question is that?"

"What's happened to Magnetron's fake cigarettes?" asked Kaneshiro, looking at Shinsou.

Shinsou took the box out of his pocket.

"Use those instead," ordered Kaneshiro.

"Fake cigarettes?" said Makeover Girl, amazed. She watched as Shinsou lit up again. "That robot never ceases to surprise me."

"Try to avoid using real ones as much as you can," added Kaneshiro, "smoking isn't healthy."

"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Makeover Girl, looking incredulous, "I've seen you light up for a disguise with real ones, any number of times!"

"That's different," said Kaneshiro, illogically. He looked at Shinsou. "Just remember not to light up in front of elders, over there. In Korea it's considered disrespectful."

Makeover Girl shook her head.

"You can't mollycoddle your trainees forever, Kaneshiro," she said.

This appeared to be an old issue between her and Kaneshiro, for he didn't bother to reply, and was turning his attention back to Ryoko.

Makeover Girl, having finished with Shinsou, now made Ryoko pour and serve drinks, correcting her frequently, while Kaneshiro stood by with a video camera.

"Okay, look at that," said Makeover Girl said, letting Ryoko watch the video of herself, "You're too stiff here, see? You're the flirty waitress … you've got to walk more seductively, give a coy smile as you put the drinks down."

"Miaow," said Ryoko plaintively, looking exhausted. The effect of the flirty waitress's hair had run out, and she had transformed back to her cat-headed self.

Makeover Girl sighed.

"All right, enough for one day," she said, glancing at Kaneshiro, "we can continue again tomorrow."

Shinsou had been watching silently. He still had the shades on, so no one could see his expression. He stood up, as Kaneshiro and Ryoko prepared to leave the room.

"I look like a killer, don't I?" he said to no one in particular, staring down at his gun.

"Anyone can pick up a gun and kill," said Kaneshiro quietly, glancing at him, "Not everyone has the heart of a hero."

"Don't forget to read your magazine," added Ryoko tiredly, as she and Kaneshiro disappeared out the door.

Shinsou removed his makeup, and then gathered his own things. As he left the room, he found himself looking again at the gun and the alumnus magazine, and the wry thought occurred to him that in this world there were some people who understood him far too well, and others not at all.


	15. The Family Palace

**15 THE FAMILY PALACE**

Kaneshiro spoke to Nakajima about the dog Yoshi possibly having a Quirk, and as a result, Nakajima began watching it like a hawk. Noticing that Yoshi wore a brown collar, he managed to get Ryoko to provide him with some choice pieces of meat from the galley, and after distracting the dog with these, affixed a tiny camera which he had obtained from Magnetron to the collar.

The surveillance footage didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary. Nakajima removed the camera once the Kirogi started coming into Wonsan, and after that kept a close eye on Yoshi. Sure enough, as the ship was being moored, he observed the dog starting to go to each crate in turn, touching it with its nose.

Nakajima tried going to the crates after that to check if their contents had changed, but couldn't get anywhere near them. Even though he was invisible, Yoshi detected his scent and realised that he was there, and began growling as if he was going to tear him to pieces.

.

.

April, and then May, went past. Winter was over and spring had arrived in Wonsan, bringing with it warmer weather.

Yeonha was still turning up faithfully every time the Kirogi came to port. She would hang around, invisible, until Watanabe (whom she still didn't recognise, but who knew perfectly well that she was there) went off, and then make her presence known to Shinsou.

Now that the weather was no longer cold, they could walk around the city in greater comfort. Shinsou noted that the town centre was surrounded by dozens of anti-aircraft and artillery gun emplacements, relics of the Korean War. He knew that some of the beaches in Wonsan were also missile-testing and artillery drill sites – only in a place like North Korea where logic seldom ruled, would one find tourism being promoted in a place where missiles were regularly fired.

Once, they went to Wonsan train station, which was in Yangji-dong on the outskirts of the city, because Shinsou was interested to see what the train ride was like. Trains in North Korea never came on time, and because they were also extremely infrequent, they were usually packed to the brim. The two of them waited a long time before one came along, and Yeonha somehow managed to squeeze herself and Shinsou invisibly in (since they didn't have a permit to travel out of Wonsan).

They stayed on board only until the next stop, which was Kalma, where the airport was, but it was still quite an experience. Non-official gatherings of four or more were generally illegal in North Korea, but trains were an exception. The fact that the passengers would never see each other again made them bold, and so rail journeys were often livened up with jokes and ribald tales, or even the sharing of news and rumours, or criticism of the authorities, something that would be unthinkable in any other setting.

Once evening came, Shinsou would see Yeonha back to her apartment and make some excuse about going drinking with his "father". He would then find a discreet place to change into his henchman's disguise, after which he would join Nakajima and Watanabe near Koryo Bar. Ryoko's acting and spoken Korean were still too poor for her to pass off as a waitress, and so for the first few months they proceeded without her.

Now that they were thinking of the possibility that Yoshi the dog might have a Quirk that was doing something to the crates, it had become more vital than ever that they determine whether their contents amounted to something more significant than bottled water. Baek, however, remained elusive. The team took turns to each spend one or two hours inside the bar, in order not to make the manager suspicious. During the few times that Baek did show up, he appeared to be in a hurry, for he conducted his business quickly and then left, and they were unsuccessful in apprehending him.

When July arrived, Kaneshiro finally decided that Ryoko was ready for her role. Shinsou soon discovered that her acting abilities and improved Korean weren't the only things about her that had changed. While making his customary trip to the galley with the bottled water, he was transfixed to see that instead of Lee following her around as he normally did, their roles had now been reversed. She was tailing him around the galley, fiercely issuing instructions at the top of her voice. Lee was trying to comply, with an extremely harassed expression on his face.

"Jiyeon, is that you?" said Shinsou, watching in disbelief.

Ryoko halted, a ladle held up threateningly in her hand, and glared at Shinsou.

"Chief cook Kaneyama is sick!" she said shrilly, "and I'm totally stressed out thinking about the two of us having to prepare the food for everybody on the ship! And this loafer here refuses to see the seriousness of the situation – he keeps following me around spouting sweet nothings!"

She turned, and glared at Lee.

"Keep stirring the soup!" she barked, waving the ladle at him, "I'll be back in a few minutes!"

"Yes, dear," panted Lee, stirring as if his life depended on it.

"I didn't know you could be so fierce," said Shinsou, amused, as she followed him into the side room.

"Miaow, I'm so tired of him singing my praises. He's been wasting time doing that during the past few trips while I've been doing practically all the work," said Ryoko wearily, "Something just snapped in me today when I found out that Kaneyama was sick. There's no way I can prepare all the food on my own!"

"Well, don't be too cruel," said Shinsou, "Has he offered to buy you a ryokan yet?"

"How did you know about that?" asked Ryoko, staring at him in astonishment, "You told him! I knew he couldn't have thought of it himself!"

"No, I didn't say a word about it to him," said Shinsou untruthfully, "He's got a sixth sense when it comes to you. Are you going to take up his offer?"

"It's tempting," said Ryoko, looking guilty, "Do you think it would be very mercenary of me to play along just so that I can realise my dream?"

"Probably," said Shinsou unhelpfully, "and now that the Chief Cook's out of action, try not to poison everyone on the ship, will you? The food is already bland enough, under normal circumstances."

Ryoko poked her head out of the side room and shouted, "Are you stirring the soup?"

"Yes, yes, I am," Shinsou heard Lee calling back, sounding distinctly flustered.

"Miaow, I know my cooking sucks," Ryoko said dolefully, drawing her head back in and turning to Shinsou, "and I know I'll need the skill if I want to run my own ryokan." She looked mournfully at him. "Did you ever hear of anyone who started off cooking badly, but managed to excel at it, in time?"

"No," said Shinsou unkindly, and then added crushingly, "and I shouldn't think it likely to happen in your case, either."

However, he had to retract his words later, for Lee, under Ryoko's tutelage, astonishingly managed to produce a better than average meal. It was such an improvement on past meals that the crew members complimented the cooks on it, and even Nakajima, who regularly pilfered food from the kitchen, commented on it.

"You're missing your vocation, Hirano," he remarked, coming across her and Shinsou in the side room later that afternoon, when Lee wasn't around, "At least you might have something to fall back on, once you quit the Directorate."

"Miaow, I was surprised, myself," said Ryoko, looking dumbfounded, "but it only works when I'm instructing Lee to cook. Not when I cook on my own."

"Stop saying 'miaow'," said Nakajima sharply, "Well, you had better marry this weirdo, then. I'll recommend him to your father as a prospective son-in-law."

Ryoko saw Shinsou grinning at her, once their supervisor had left.

"Stop grinning at me," she said mournfully, "Anyway, he's a Zainichi Korean. Won't that complicate things?"

"Why should it?" said Shinsou, indifferently. He had neatly stacked the bottles of water against the wall, and was preparing to leave.

"Well, what about you and Nakajima's daughter?" Ryoko shot back. She looked coyly at him. "What was that Kaneshiro was saying about lighters? And I've watched you leave the ship a couple of times. She's always hanging around, waiting there to meet you, isn't she? As if she can't wait to see you. I've been guessing that someone who's invisible must be with you whenever you disappear into that alley."

"You're imagining it," said Shinsou, shortly, and then turned and left.

.

.

When he met Yeonha the next morning, Shinsou's mind was distracted, wondering whether Ryoko was going to be a disaster acting as a waitress that night. However, he became more alert when he suddenly heard his companion saying, "I thought that we could drop by the Supreme Leader's Family Palace, today."

He looked at her. The Supreme Leader had a sprawling residence located in Songdowon, near the hotel. It was reputed to be extremely luxurious, and the Leader and his family visited it whenever they wanted to relax. There, they were said to ride horses and jet ski, sail luxury yachts, and host lavish banquets for the North Korean elite.

Although Shinsou had heard about the Palace, he had never thought of visiting it. Security was sure to be tight, even if the Supreme Leader wasn't in residence at the moment. But Yeonha was now looking at him with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"I've never been there myself, although I've thought it should be easy enough to enter, if I made myself invisible." She smiled at him. "What do you think?"

"Sure, why not," said Shinsou, intrigued.

The Palace compound was gated, with security guards and high walls. They hung around the main gate, invisible, and then, when the gates opened to admit a car, quickly slipped in.

Shinsou heard Yeonha laughing softly in excitement. They had the whole day free, so they took their time walking around the premises. The compound was extensive with well-tended gardens, and was dotted with guest villas. It even had a small airstrip and a private train station for the use of the Supreme Leader's family. There was also a full football pitch, a basketball court, waterslides and a private amusement park.

Close to the amusement park was a beach which contained volleyball courts, and across the river were boat houses, which contained a 200-foot pool barge and a luxury yacht.

There were so many security guards around, however, that Shinsou began to suspect that the Supreme Leader might actually be staying at the Palace at the moment. He communicated this to Yeonha, and she was excited, saying that they should enter the house and see him in person.

This was decidedly risky, but they found themselves standing outside the front door, and eventually got in easily enough. Some event appeared to be in progress, for cars were occasionally entering and leaving the grounds, dropping their passengers off at the front of the mansion.

It looked as if there was going to be a party, for the guests were dressed casually or even in party clothes. Shinsou and Yeonha waited till the door had been opened to admit a group of five arrivals, and then managed to hurriedly slip in before it closed.

The interior of the house was opulent, with marble floors and potted plants, and chandeliers. The guests were making themselves at home, sitting around on comfortable sofas and sipping drinks. Shinsou thought that he recognised the Supreme Leader's wife, whom he had seen in news reports. She was hanging around the foyer, waiting to receive the guests as they arrived.

By eavesdropping on the guests' conversation, it sounded as if the main party was going to take place that night. After about ten minutes the Supreme Leader himself appeared, pudgy and rather unprepossessing in appearance, sporting his usual awful hairstyle, and dressed in a white T-shirt and shorts.

He was smoking an expensive-looking cigar, and languidly greeted several of the guests, then ordered one of the servants to get him a bottle of vodka and his wife to switch the TV on so that he could watch a basketball game. Shinsou couldn't see Yeonha, but he could feel her trembling with excitement.

He decided that he'd rather get away from the Supreme Leader, whom he found rather repulsive, so he tugged the rope joining himself and Yeonha, and headed further into the house.

They eventually came to the kitchen. A sumptuous-looking lunch was being prepared, consisting of a mix of western and Korean dishes. The latter included _tangogi_ , a dog meat dish, and _samgyetang_ , a whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, dried fruit and ginseng. Yeonha, noticing the array of brass bowls, whispered that _pangsanggi_ was going to be served, which was a Korean traditional royal lunch. It reminded Shinsou of the kaiseki-style meals the Japanese had; but in this case the bowls contained sheets of seaweed, tiny fried fish, zigzags of acorn jelly, pork and vegetable stew, pickled radishes and glutinous rice balls in a red bean soup.

Yeonha giggled and whispered that they might as well help themselves, since they needed to have lunch anyway, and so they managed to discreetly filch food while the cooks weren't looking, and had a satisfactory meal. Fortunately, there was so much food on the table that the theft went unnoticed.

They were about to leave the kitchen when the Supreme Leader's wife came in, asking what time lunch was going to be ready. On hearing that it would take at least another fifteen minutes, she said, "Good. My husband wants to have a haircut first."

This was too good a chance to miss, so Shinsou gently tugged at the rope and whispered, "Let's watch that. I want to collect some of his hair."

He could imagine Yeonha's bewilderment, so he whispered, "I just have a feeling that it might come in useful. Let's see if the kitchen has any small bottles we can put it in." He was thinking, of course, that it might be useful for Ryoko to impersonate the Supreme Leader some time.

They managed to pinch a small plastic container from a kitchen shelf, and then tiptoed out to look for the Supreme Leader. They cautiously stole past the guests, who were still sipping cocktails, and made their way upstairs to the bedrooms.

Fortunately, the hairdresser had also just arrived – from the conversation they overheard later, he had been flown in by helicopter – and although they didn't know who he was, when they saw him they decided to slip into the bedroom he was being escorted into, just before the door closed.

While the hairdresser started on the Supreme Leader's hair, the latter called out to his wife to open the wardrobe and take out a shirt that he wanted to wear that night.

Shinsou hastily tugged at the rope and pulled Yeonha over to the wardrobe. When Ryoko shapeshifted into someone, the clothes she ended up wearing were whatever the impersonated person had been wearing at the time the hair sample had been taken. The Supreme Leader was currently wearing T-shirt and shorts. If they ever needed the cat girl to imitate him, she couldn't appear outfitted in such casual wear; she would probably have to put on one of the _yangbok_ that he normally wore.

Fortunately, besides casual holiday wear, the wardrobe also contained several _yangbok_ , which was something like a Mao suit, with a high collar and buttons. Shinsou waited till the Supreme Leader's wife's back was turned, and then whispered to Yeonha to touch one of the suits to make it invisible, and then take it out of the wardrobe.

She did so, although she didn't understand why he wanted it. They waited after that for the haircut to progress to a stage where there would be enough hair to collect. The amount was meagre, for the Supreme Leader's hair was already so short that there wasn't a lot left to cut.

Yeonha hastily scooped up whatever hair there was on the ground, taking care not to bump into the Supreme Leader or the hairdresser. She placed it in the container, and then Shinsou tugged her toward the door. He decided that they'd better leave the house before their luck ran out.

They had to wait near the door for the hairdresser to leave, though, for they couldn't risk someone noticing the door opening and closing by itself. Fortunately, one of the servants entered the room some minutes later, and they made good their escape then.

Shinsou realised that he didn't really have a good excuse to give as to why he wanted these peculiar items. He just told Yeonha that he had a friend who could shapeshift, and that it would be fun for the friend to morph into the Supreme Leader and put the yangbok on. He could tell that she wasn't really satisfied with his answer, but she said nothing.

He left her at her apartment and went off to join Nakajima for drinks earlier than usual, for it was going to take time to orientate Ryoko to her waitress role.

The meeting point was a disused shed across the road from the bar. Shinsou, already wearing his henchman's disguise, found the others waiting for him. Ryoko was looking extremely nervous.

"Here, take this, just in case we need to contact you," said Nakajima, handing Shinsou a cell phone, "Go brainwash the deadpan waitress now. I'll be waiting outside the back exit."

Shinsou left the shed, and was going to cross the road when a taxi pulled up just nearby. To his astonishment, a familiar small figure got out. He recognised Lee.

"What is he doing here?" he thought, annoyed.

He took a packet of cigarettes out and approached the assistant cook, who had just closed the taxi door and was looking furtively around.

" _Jeogiyo_ ," he said casually, "Have you got a light?"

Lee, not recognising Shinsou and also not understanding because he was speaking Korean, gaped at him.

"I-I'm sorry," he answered in Japanese, "I don't speak much Korean." His face went blank.

"You moron," said Shinsou, glaring at him, "what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Jiyeon," said Lee, staring blankly in front of him, "I couldn't find her on the ship. I looked everywhere. I got worried, so I went to her cabin and searched her bag, and there was a scrap of paper there with the words 'Koryo Bar' scribbled on it. I sneaked off the ship and managed to catch a taxi. I couldn't speak much to the driver, but he understood 'Koryo Bar', and brought me here."

Shinsou resisted an urge to throttle him. The interfering idiot! He was going to end up in a labour camp if he was caught going around speaking Japanese and without a minder.

Seeing that the taxi was still waiting, evidently hoping that Shinsou might be a prospective passenger, he said, "Get back into the taxi and pay the driver once you reach the ship. Sneak back onto the ship and go to your cabin. Stay there and don't budge from it for the rest of the night!"

He then brainwashed the taxi driver as well, and told him to bring the exasperating Lee back to the dock area.

"That should take care of him," he thought, shaking his head in disbelief as the taxi drove off. He then strolled across the road, and entered the bar. There weren't that many customers yet, and the bar manager was also nowhere to be seen. Shinsou saw both waitresses at the bar counter. The flirty one's face brightened when she saw him, and shoving the deadpan one aside, she promptly came forward, smiling.

"Good evening," said Shinsou, returning her smile.

"Good evening," she purred. Her face promptly went blank.

Shinsou looked at the deadpan waitress.

"Come here," he said.

The waitress came forward, peering at her colleague in bafflement.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked, puzzled. Her face went blank as well.

Making sure that none of the other customers could hear him, Shinsou spoke to the deadpan waitress in an undertone. "Pretend that you're going to the washroom, and then leave the bar by the back exit. Someone will be there. Do whatever he tells you to do." Nakajima was waiting invisibly near the exit, ready to make the waitress invisible and bring her across the road to the shed.

Once the deadpan waitress had left, Shinsou looked at the flirty one.

"When your colleague comes back, she will be like a new employee who needs training," he said quietly, "Teach her everything she needs to know, and answer whatever questions she has. But don't let the manager hear or see you doing it. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she said.

"Otherwise, carry on with your duties as usual," said Shinsou, "Give me a taedonggang beer, now." He thought it would look odd if he left without having a drink.

He seated himself as far away from the other customers as he could. The waitress presently brought his beer, smiling coquettishly. He was halfway through it when Ryoko appeared at the counter, in the form of the deadpan waitress. She had come in by the back exit.

The flirty waitress immediately started giving her instructions. Ryoko tried taking it all in, listening and nodding nervously. Just then, Shinsou's phone rang.

"Youngjae!" Watanabe's voice came over in an explosive whisper, "Yeonha's outside the bar!"

"What?" spluttered Shinsou. First Lee, now Yeonha – it was getting to be too much! He hastily signalled to the waitresses to bring him the bill.

"Get out there and brainwash her and bring her over to the shed!" hissed Watanabe.

Ryoko, under the keen eye of the flirty waitress, came over and nervously presented the bill to him. Shinsou hurriedly paid up, and muttered to her, "Stop looking so frightened. You're supposed to look deadpan," before hurrying out.

He stopped just outside the bar entrance. Yeonha was there, looking hesitantly at the bar's signboard. She seemed rather tense, because the neighbourhood looked so seedy. He was familiar enough with her facial expressions now to tell that she was wondering whether or not to become invisible before going into the bar.

He unhurriedly took a packet of Magnetron's cigarettes out, and lit one. Pausing, he blew out a cloud of smoke and glanced at his watch, before turning and appearing to notice her.

" _Haksaeng_ ," he grunted, "Have you got the time?"

Yeonha gazed at him, wide-eyed.

"H-half past eight," she stammered nervously. Her face promptly went blank.

"Follow me," Shinsou ordered curtly. Not wanting anyone to see them, he led her some distance down the road, turned down an alley, and then told her to make the both of them invisible. He then led her back to where the others were.

The deadpan waitress was sitting in a corner, blank-faced, when they entered. Nakajima looked incensed when he saw his daughter.

"What on earth is she doing here?" he said, truculently.

"Yeonha," said Shinsou, "Why are you here?"

"I got curious after Youngjae got hold of the Supreme Leader's hair and yangbok today," said Yeonha, staring blankly in front of her. She didn't know, of course, that it was Shinsou questioning her, "I wanted to see if he was up to anything, whether he was really having drinks with his father."

The others stared questioningly at Shinsou.

"We went to the Family Palace today and the Supreme Leader happened to be there, having a haircut," Shinsou hurriedly explained, "I thought it might be useful for Ryoko, so we collected some of his hair and took one of his yangbok for her to wear, since he was in a T-shirt."

"You don't say," said Watanabe, looking tickled.

Shinsou turned back to Yeonha.

"Do you mean to say that you followed Youngjae all the way here?" he demanded.

"No," said Yeonha, "I overheard him saying 'see you at Koryo Bar tonight' when talking to his father, months ago. He'd gone some distance away to make the call, and I was curious, so I made myself invisible and went over to listen. But I only managed to find out recently where the bar was. I came here on my own."

"You eavesdropped?" said Shinsou, furious, "What else did you hear?"

"Nothing," answered Yeonha, "he was ending the conversation by the time I came. I hurried back to where I was earlier, so that he wouldn't know."

Watanabe was now looking decidedly put out.

"Well, this is a mess," he said in annoyance to Nakajima, "trust your daughter to be a bloody busybody, just like you!"

"I like that!" Nakajima exclaimed indignantly, "When things are fine, she's your informal niece. But when things go wrong, suddenly she becomes my daughter!"

"Well, it's true," said Watanabe grumpily, "She's got your genes. That's why she's so inquisitive. Although," he looked meditatively at Shinsou, "something stronger than curiosity probably brought her here, as well."

Shinsou scowled, and glanced at Nakajima, who fortunately didn't seem to be listening. He was staring at Yeonha, thinking.

"Youngjae," he said, "there's no help for it. You'll have to bring her home."

"What?" exploded Watanabe, "We need him here to interrogate Baek, if he turns up!"

"Well, neither you nor I can bring her back," said Nakajima impatiently, "if we do it and she wakes up halfway, she won't recognise us and she'll think we're kidnapping her or something. If we let her know it's us, there's no way we can explain what we're doing or why we're disguised in this fashion, nor can we re-brainwash her again. Shinsou can."

"Leave her brainwashed here with the waitress, until we're done," retorted Watanabe, glancing at the glassy-eyed waitress.

"No," said Nakajima firmly, "what if we're gone and someone comes along and wakes her up? And I'm positive Soojin doesn't know she's here. She'll be worried sick if our daughter's missing half the night."

He was adamant; Shinsou was to bring Yeonha back and return as fast as he could. In the meantime they would let Ryoko practise being a waitress in the bar, and just hope that Baek didn't turn up until Shinsou came back.

Shinsou ordered Yeonha to make the both of them invisible, and then escorted her out. It took them a while to get to the apartment, for they had to walk. There were no taxis around, and even if there were, they could hardly have flagged one down while being invisible.

He saw her all the way to her doorstep and then told her to enter her flat and make herself visible. As the door closed, he could hear Park Soojin's voice. "Where have you been?"

He hurried off before Yeonha woke from her brainwashed state and started looking for him. He was feeling angry that she had eavesdropped on him – how could he trust her in the future, he wondered. However, on reflection, he had to admit that his brainwashing of people, where he was able to manipulate them into doing whatever he wanted, was no better. And he had to admit that without her, he wouldn't have been able to get hold of the Supreme Leader's hair samples.

He wondered if she would guess that he had brainwashed her – there was no other way she could wake up suddenly in her apartment when the last thing she remembered was being outside the bar.

By the time he returned to Koryo Bar, it was almost midnight. Nakajima and Watanabe were in the shed monitoring the bar entrance across the road, still keeping an eye out for Baek.

"He hasn't shown up yet," said Nakajima, looking relieved that Shinsou was back, "which is just as well, considering the circumstances."

Shinsou expected Watanabe to say something sarcastic, but he was looking rather subdued. He had realised that perhaps helping Yeonha spend so much time with Shinsou hadn't been such a good idea, after all.

"What are we going to do if Yeonha pops up here again, next time?" he asked.

"I'll get Soojin to keep her busy with something, that night," said Nakajima, unperturbed. "That should solve the matter."

"We went inside the bar for a while," Watanabe informed Shinsou, "to check on Hirano. She looks too frightened to be that waitress." He glanced at the deadpan waitress, who was still sitting in a corner in a trance.

"I don't think anyone really thought much about it," remarked Nakajima, "The men there are more interested in the flirty one. All things considered, Hirano's performed decently so far. She only spilled one drink and broke one glass."

Shinsou winced.

They waited for a few more hours, until the bar was going to close.

"Baek won't show at this late hour, so I'm going to call Hirano to come to the back exit now," said Nakajima, glancing at the brainwashed waitress, "Tell this lass to follow me there and then continue with her work as usual and go home."

Shinsou promptly did as he asked, and Nakajima presently returned invisibly with Ryoko.

"Show Jiyeon the hairs you collected, Youngjae," ordered Nakajima, after the cat girl had swallowed one of Yoshida's hairs and resumed her assistant cook's form.

Ryoko, after hearing what the hairs and yangbok were all about, cringed while handling the plastic container.

"It's so awful to think that I might have to eat that horrible man's body parts," she moaned, peering at the container's contents, "I think my skin would crawl if I even had to collect the hair off the floor!"

Shinsou just shrugged, as Nakajima started taking out the length of rope to cloak all of them from sight.

"Intelligence work has its darker side," he said unhelpfully, and was amused to see Ryoko's revolted expression, even as she took hold of the rope that Nakajima was proferring, and vanished from view.


	16. Koryo Bar

**16 KORYO BAR**

During the journey back to Japan, Nakajima told Shinsou to brainwash and interrogate Captain Jang to find out if he knew where the bottled water that Yoshi was guarding originated from; but to no avail. Jang said that all he knew was that ever since the Shiramine had started sailing, he had been told by Chongryon that it was proving troublesome to fix the water pipes on board, and that he was to accept any deliveries of bottled water to the ship. When asked about the men who came on board at Wonsan to collect the crates, he said he didn't know who they were. They had offered him a generous commission if he allowed them to remove the mineral water, and since it was easy money, he had accepted it, no questions asked.

Shinsou had asked who in Chongryon had told him to accept the bottled water, but he said that he couldn't remember. The instruction had come by mail and he had since thrown the letter away. When asked who Yoshi belonged to, Jang didn't know either. He said that the dog had been there since he had been employed to captain the ship, and he assumed that it belonged to someone from Chongryon.

Shinsou had then tried brainwashing Chongryon Kim about the matter, but he knew nothing about bottled water or where the dog came from either. Besides reuniting the Zainichi Korean passengers with their families, he had also been using the ship to transport Chongryon activists to Wonsan for their re-education and retraining, Chongryon teachers for consultation with North Korean experts in order to update Chongryon's textbooks, and Zainichi Korean students from schools run by Chongryon for "fatherland visitation" trips. These were his main objectives for being involved with the Shiramine.

Nakajima had also not been idle during the past few months. Ever since their first trip to Wonsan, he had stopped drinking, and had even started physical training again. He had not sparred with Shinsou, but the latter had seen him training with Kaneshiro, and he had to admit that Nakajima had improved more in that short span of time than he would have thought possible. He could well imagine that at his prime, he must have been a top-notch fighter.

When they returned to Tokyo, Shinsou put a disguise on and accompanied Nakajima down to the Chongryon Headquarters again, and went to the section that had employed the ship's crew. Nakajima hung around, invisible, but Shinsou pretended that he had come to enquire about working on the Shiramine, and brainwashed the Chongryon employee he was talking to. He then got the employee to discreetly call the other staff over, one at a time, pretending that there was a question he couldn't answer. As a result, Shinsou managed to interrogate practically everyone in that section.

None of the staff knew anything about Yoshi or illegal cargo. As for the bottled water, they had hired a company to fill industrial bottles with clean tap water and deliver it to the ship. None of them knew of any mineral water that was being delivered.

Fortunately, Nakajima had also been monitoring the Shiramine for the past few months, and had observed that the mineral water which Yoshi guarded was usually delivered in the late morning before the ship set sail. He had taken note of the delivery company, which was a commonly used one. The next time the ship was due to sail, he instructed Shinsou to brainwash the two deliverymen, once they arrived.

The deliverymen didn't know the contents of the crates. They had merely received orders to collect them from a warehouse at the other end of Niigata City. Nakajima asked to see the order form, which on examination showed that it had been made by a private individual called Sato.

Nakajima kept the order form, intending to get it checked for fingerprints. Fortunately, they had intercepted the deliverymen before the crates had been delivered, so they could now inspect them. He had Shinsou instruct the men to drive their truck to a secluded area, and they then pried one crate open.

Shinsou was dumbfounded. He didn't recognise what the crates were filled with, but it wasn't bottled water. Nakajima said that they were diving valves.

"These nonmagnetic valves are subject to import restrictions because they can be used for military purposes," he said, shaking his head.

They pried all the other crates open. Four others contained more valves. The last three were filled with colour TV boxes.

"I wonder," said Nakajima, looking suspiciously at the boxes. He opened one box; there was no TV inside. Instead, it contained cash, in the form of 10,000 yen bills.

Shinsou watched as Nakajima took some of the cash out and counted it. 10,000 yen bills had been bundled into rolls of 100 million yen, and neatly packed in the box.

They looked at each other, and then Nakajima took a camera out and photographed everything as evidence. He then brought nails and various other tools out that would allow them to re-seal the crates, so that no one would guess that they had been opened.

"Tell those boys to help us pack everything back nicely," Nakajima said to Shinsou, indicating the deliverymen.

They allowed the deliverymen to bring the crates on board the ship, as usual. Shinsou hated letting the crates go, because they were most likely contributing to the North Korean government's defence programme, which included firing missiles near Japan.

Nakajima noticed his expression.

"In this business, you have to be patient, Shinsou," he said quietly, "We can't remove anything, or it'll alert the perpetrators and put them on guard. We'll have to find out who's behind all this and wipe out the entire operation at one go."

Shinsou nodded, frowning.

Nakajima clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good job," he said, "Without your Quirk, I might have had to somehow knock those men out before I could check the crates, or go all the way to the warehouse and wait till they were delivered to examine them. You'd better get yourself on board, now, and prepare for departure."

.

.

Shinsou had been expecting Yeonha to ask him whether he had brainwashed her during his previous visit, but she was strangely quiet when they met up. When he asked her what she wanted to do that day, she said that she just wanted to go home to the apartment, and watch movies.

He felt that something was amiss, so he casually brainwashed her, and asked her what was wrong.

" _Samchon_ , like you, has been reminding me that the Kirogi will stop coming here eventually," she said disconsolately, "after which I won't be able to see you any more. And he refused to forge a medical letter for me, this time. He says that I have to get used to seeing you less. I had to go to a doctor at the jangmadang and bribe him into giving me a letter, in order to skip school today."

Shinsou was listening in surprise.

"Is that all that's bothering you?" he asked.

"No," she said, "What happened last month bothers me too. I don't know what happened. I tried going to Koryo Bar to look for you, but I met this man smoking outside and the next thing I knew, I was back in my apartment. I don't know how I got back. I don't know who that man was. Does he have some brainwashing power like you? Why would he want to brainwash me and bring me back home? How does he even know where I live? Or could that have been you, somehow, disguised? I'm still not sure what you wanted the Supreme Leader's hair and yangbok for. Suddenly, I'm not sure who you are."

Shinsou frowned; he was still annoyed with her for eavesdropping on him. He should have been more careful, he supposed. And he should have acted more as if getting the Supreme Leader's hair and yangbok had all been for a joke. But it was too late now.

"Do you want us to stop meeting?" he asked.

"No," said Yeonha, "I want to make the most of your visits while they still last."

Shinsou looked at her sad face, and despite being angry with her, felt a wave of pity. Park Soojin knew that he, Nakajima and Watanabe were intelligence agents; Watanabe had been keen enough to help out his old friend to reveal the truth to her, believing it would help her understand why Nakajima had stalled on marrying her. But he hadn't gone so far as to allow the secret to be told to Yeonha as well. She was the only one still being kept in the dark.

Shinsou had by now established what he considered to be a good friendship with Yeonha, and he was genuinely fond of her. He thought about letting her in on the truth as well, but knew that he couldn't. Watanabe had already broken a rule by telling Park Soojin who they were. They were risking their lives, operating as Japanese agents on North Korean soil. His priority had to be the Shiramine and the success of the assignment, which was especially urgent now that they had discovered what kind of cargo the ship had been carrying.

He woke Yeonha from her trance. He decided that she would end up feeling even gloomier if they went to the apartment, so he insisted that they walk around a bit, at least for the morning. He reminded her that she normally liked walking along the waterfront, where there were always people fishing.

It was summer now, and there were hundreds of people swimming in the sea and eating ice creams on the beach. Young couples could be seen roller skating in a big square near the waterfront. Besides tourists on holiday, the locals too were enjoying themselves, and later in the evening many families would be cooking up barbecues on the beach.

Yeonha couldn't let herself be visible, because she was playing truant and someone might recognise her. But Shinsou became temporarily visible and bought them some ice creams, and they then sat in a secluded corner, eating them.

However, after lunch, she still wanted to go home, saying that it looked like rain. It was August, which was the wettest month in Wonsan.

"We can be visible there, and I can see your face, for a change," she said absently, giving away the real reason she wanted to go back. She sounded depressed. "After all, who knows how long it'll be before I won't see you any more."

So, they made their way to her apartment. She wanted to watch her favourite movie, _Titanic_ , and loaded it into the notel. It was the first movie she'd seen where someone had died for another person, she solemnly told Shinsou. In North Korea, one only died for the Supreme Leader.

Shinsou secretly loathed the movie, which he considered to be a cheesy romance. He'd already had to endure watching it twice, and he'd tried with difficulty both times not to fall asleep halfway.

Today, however, he wasn't nodding off, but was watching Yeonha out of the corner of his eye. She hadn't been her usual cheerful self all day, and she was now staring fixedly at the notel screen, but not seeing it; her mind seemed to be elsewhere. After a while, she gave up with a small sigh, and switched the movie off.

"I'm not really in the mood for this," she said dismally, "Let's just talk."

He looked at her. "Why don't you just tell me what's troubling you?"

She returned his gaze, a wistful expression on her face.

"You're always reminding me that you may stop coming one day," she said, "and even samchon has been reminding me, lately. I get depressed thinking about it. Things got better, once you and abeonim came. Eomma's been happier. She's even stopped seeing men in the evenings, and I can tell she looks forward to seeing your father the same way I look forward to seeing you, every month."

"Well, isn't that good?" asked Shinsou.

"Yes, of course," said Yeonha earnestly, "but it'll all come to an end, once you stop coming. It'll all go back to the way it used to be. My mother will stop being happy, and start seeing those men again. And I did so many things that I never thought I could do, once you came. We went up in an aeroplane, and went skiing at Masikryong. I'll lose all of it, once you go."

"Yeonha," said Shinsou, speaking quietly, because one never knew if the _inminban_ leader was listening outside, "has your mother come round to the idea of defecting yet?"

She looked surprised.

"I don't know," she said, "she hasn't said anything to me."

"Well, I know that my father wants her to go to America, just as samchon and Titus want her to," said Shinsou, "If she agrees, he'll probably go with the two of you."

"Really?" said Yeonha, her face brightening. "Does that mean you'll be coming as well?"

"No, I've got a contract with the shipping company," lied Shinsou, "I'll have to serve out the contract for quite a number of years first, and none of its ships sail to America."

"Oh," said Yeonha. Her face fell, but then looked hopeful again. "But eventually, you'd be able to join us, wouldn't you?"

"If I don't renew my contract," said Shinsou, vaguely. He was telling her a lot of falsehoods, but he didn't think that what he said to her mattered any more. After all, his entire act was a lie. When everything was over, she was going to discover the truth, anyway – that Nakajima wasn't his father, that he wasn't a Zainichi Korean at all, and that he had been deceiving her.

.

.

To Yeonha's dismay, Park Soojin came back to the apartment early, because Nakajima was impatient to get over to Koryo Bar to look for Baek, now that they knew the Shiramine was transporting illegal cargo. He hustled Shinsou out of the flat, and they were soon invisibly on their way.

Nakajima said that Soojin was going to make Yeonha follow her to the jangmadang to do some shopping. That should ensure that his inquisitive daughter didn't gatecrash them again that night.

Shinsou went into the bar early as usual, to brainwash the deadpan waitress so that Ryoko could take her place. However, to his dismay, he discovered that she was no longer working there. The flirty waitress now had a new colleague.

There was no choice; Ryoko would have to pretend to be the flirty waitress. He brainwashed her, and dispatched her out to the back exit where Nakajima was waiting. He decided to brainwash the new waitress as well, so that she wouldn't notice if Ryoko's attempts to impersonate the flirt were unconvincing.

Ryoko was trying hard to look coquettish by the time he'd had a drink and left the bar, although her smiles tended to look more like nervous grins, or else degenerated into grimaces instead. One of the customers had kept teasing her and inviting her to sit on his lap, and Shinsou could see the panic-stricken expression in her eyes.

He managed to save her every time the customer did it, by signalling for her and pretending he wanted something trivial, like a napkin or matches for his cigarette. He waited until the man had left before leaving, himself. She looked rather forlorn as she saw Shinsou making his way out, leaving her to the mercy of the other men in the bar; but he couldn't remain there all night. He rejoined Nakajima and Watanabe in the shed, and settled down to wait.

Two hours went by, and then Ryoko called. Baek had just entered the bar, with two other men.

Shinsou had thought of a way to begin a conversation with them. When he entered, he hid a US twenty-dollar note in his hand, and then bending down near Baek's table, pretended to pick it up, as if someone had accidentally dropped it onto the floor.

"Excuse me," he said smoothly in Korean, pausing at the table and looking at Baek, "Did anyone here drop this?" He displayed the note.

Both of Baek's henchmen answered simultaneously. "I did." "It's mine." Their faces went blank.

Baek looked suspicious; most people in that bar would have simply pocketed the money. He glanced at his blank-faced henchmen. Fortunately, he hadn't figured out how Shinsou's Quirk worked.

"Who are you?" he said coldly, looking at Shinsou. He stood up and began to take his gun out, but before he could complete the action, his face went blank.

"Move over to that table at the far end of the room," ordered Shinsou, thinking it would be better to do the interrogation as far away from the other customers as possible, so that they wouldn't be overheard.

When all of them had settled themselves there, Watanabe signalled to Ryoko and ordered beers for all of them. Shinsou was seated on one side of Baek, and Nakajima on the other. Nakajima took out an audio recorder that had been concealed within a packet of cigarettes, and placed it in front of Baek.

Shinsou, seeing that everything was ready, started the interrogation. He decided to let his two seniors do most of the questioning.

"Answer all the questions that my two companions here ask you," he ordered Baek.

"Tell us all about those crates that you take away, every time the Kirogi comes to port," said Nakajima, quietly.

"They contain goods smuggled in from Japan," answered Baek, "Cash, missile parts, game consoles, digital cameras, many different things."

Shinsou glanced at Nakajima, and saw that he was frowning. The North Koreans, via Chongryon, had smuggled such items out of Japan in the past. Components of such electronic goods had all ended up as part of Pyongyang's military hardware.

Once, years ago, the South Korean authorities had captured a miniature North Korean submarine, and had subsequently shown it to members of the Japanese government. Twenty percent of the components in the vessel had been manufactured in Japan, including the submarine's global positioning satellite equipment, radar, and high-frequency communications equipment.

Kaneshiro had mentioned to Shinsou that probably ninety percent of the missile parts used by North Korea were of Japanese origin. Illicitly importing from Japan had been very crucial to North Korea's weapons programmes. Without Japanese technology, the North Koreans would never have been able to produce their nuclear weapons or their long-range missiles. And now, it looked as if the smuggling was still going on.

"Who are the people behind all this?" asked Watanabe.

"The North Korean government, of course," replied Baek, "in particular, the Defence Ministry. But the one in charge of actually carrying out the operation is Choe Yong-gon."

Nakajima and Watanabe exchanged glances.

"He has a Warp Gate Quirk, which makes it easy for him to remove the items," explained Baek, "He is also familiar with Japan, and is the one who travels over there every month to oversee operations. He arranges for different types of goods to be brought to a warehouse in Niigata City, and then gets a delivery company there to bring it to the Shiramine."

"What disguise and alias does Choe use when he comes to Japan?" asked Nakajima.

"I don't know," said Baek, "he didn't tell me that."

"When the Kirogi docks in Wonsan, why doesn't Choe just board the ship and teleport the goods away?" asked Watanabe.

"Choe's Quirk isn't powerful enough to teleport that far," answered Baek, "He's also careful never to risk exposing his involvement, so he gets us to bring the crates to the nearest point where he can warp them to the warehouse, and meets us there. We generally get the goods safely off the ship as soon as possible, and store them somewhere."

"Where does the dog on board the ship come from?" asked Nakajima, looking intently at the drug dealer.

"The dog belongs to an acquaintance of Choe whose Quirk allows him to speak to animals," said Baek, "The acquaintance found out from the dog that it has a Quirk that gives it the power of illusion. He instructed the dog to make the crate contents look like bottled water, and then guard the crates so that no one would be able to handle the contents and find out that the water is only an illusion."

Nakajima was muttering under his breath. "I should have tried to actually touch those bottles, instead of just looking at them."

"So Chongryon isn't involved in the smuggling, this time?" said Shinsou, looking at Baek.

"No," said Baek, "The Japanese government know that they were, in the past, and is keeping a sharp eye on them. It would be too easy for the police to get someone with a mind control Quirk to extract information from them. The North Korean government decided it would be better to have the current arrangement."

"So Choe has been running the whole thing," said Nakajima, "What is Choe getting out of all this, and why has he involved drug dealers like you in this operation?"

"I know that Choe is being paid handsomely, but how much, I'm not sure," admitted Baek, "he pays us a good amount for helping him, so he must be getting even more. But he has been dissatisfied with how much he is being given. He feels he deserves more, since he's the main one running this thing. But the government itself is too broke to pay him much.

"He has been angry with the authorities during the last few months, and out of spite, he's been withholding some of the goods. He has been lying to the authorities that goods have been hard to come by, and hinting that he needs more money to proceed. But he can't stop the goods from coming on board the ship, for he's gone to a lot of trouble to establish a supply and if he breaks it, it might take a long time to re-establish it or he might lose his suppliers altogether. And so he's been storing the goods in a warehouse, instead.

"He's playing a dangerous game. The authorities may suspect what he's doing, but at the moment they need him, because there isn't anyone else like him, with his Quirk and his contacts, who can carry out everything so efficiently."

"And how did you come to be involved with him in this?" asked Watanabe, reminding Beak of the second part of the question.

"I know Choe because he's the one who pulled me into the drug business, years ago, to help him," said Baek, "He's been in the drug business for a long time. He's into it in a big way, one can make US$8000 just by transporting one kilo of meth to Pyongyang and selling it. That's a huge amount of money, in North Korea. He does it as a private enterprise, but he helps the North Korean government generate wealth in that way, too. In the past, as part of Chongryon, he was smuggling the drugs out of North Korea into Japan – Chongryon would deliver the drugs to the Yakuza, and this illicitly generated billions for the North Korean government. But the Japanese government found out about it, and so we've now switched to smuggling the drugs into China instead."

"So, where is this warehouse where the goods are stored?" asked Nakajima, his eyes gleaming.

"I know it's somewhere in the city centre," said Baek, "I don't know exactly which building it's in, because the Warp Gate rematerializes us directly inside the building. But looking at the view from the windows, I can tell it's on a high floor."

"City centre?" said Watanabe, "Most of the buildings, except Wonsan Hotel, have only been partially constructed."

Baek shrugged.

"That's my guess," he said, "It's always night, when we teleport the goods there, so it's not easy to make out things, but it looks like the city centre to me."

Shinsou had been trying to practise what Nakajima usually did, which was to be aware of what was happening around him even while listening to Baek talking. He suddenly noticed one of the chairs near the entrance of the bar move a few inches, as if someone invisible had accidentally pushed it aside while walking past.

He started. "Yeonha," he thought, his heart sinking. Park Soojin must have finished with the shopping at the jangmadang, and thought that Yeonha would no longer try going to the bar. He guessed that once they had reached home, she must have become invisible and slipped past her mother, and left the apartment.

He knew that Yeonha would recognise him as the man who had been smoking outside the bar, the other night. She must be making her way toward him, now. They were in one corner of the bar, and he was guessing that she would position herself by the wall nearby, where there was an empty space, and try to eavesdrop on the conversation.

He was wondering whether to tell Nakajima, when several other men entered the bar. Looking around, they spotted Baek, and began making their way over.

Shinsou became tense; they must have an appointment to meet Baek. It was time for the interrogation to end.

Watanabe and Nakajima had seen the men, too. Nakajima quickly pocketed the audio recorder, and he and Watanabe stood up.

"Baek, who are these?" snapped one of the men, coming up and looking suspiciously at the Japanese agents, "You told us to meet you here. Have you played us out again because someone else offered you a better price?"

One of the henchmen suddenly lunged at Watanabe, who swiftly picked him up and threw him onto a nearby table, where another group of dealers was having a drink.

Seeing this, the other henchmen surged forward. The dealers who'd had the henchman thrown on them also came over, furious, and within seconds, a brawl was in full swing; everyone else in the bar seemed to have joined in as well. Shinsou saw a few guns being brought out, and swiftly punched the owner of one and kicked the gun out of another's hand. The next thing he knew, Nakajima had pulled him down and was saying in his ear, "We just needed to start the fight. Let the others continue. Get out of here. I'm going to get Hirano out, and will join you in the shed."

Shinsou wanted to tell him about Yeonha, but he vanished from view, and was gone.

He turned and, crouching low, made his way to the corner where he guessed Yeonha was hiding.

"Yeonha!" he hissed, "Are you there?"

"Y-youngjae?" he heard her voice, shaking slightly.

"Make me invisible and get us out of here!" snapped Shinsou.

He felt her hand grasp his, and then they were both invisibly making their way round the perimeter of the room, and finally out of the bar.

" _What are you doing here_?" said Shinsou furiously, the minute they were outside.

"How did you end up disguised like that?" she asked. He still couldn't see her, but he knew that her face had gone blank.

He made her walk over to the shed, and make them visible once they'd entered. Only the flirty waitress was there, sitting blank-faced in a corner.

Nakajima came in a minute later, with Watanabe and a terrified Ryoko. He was livid to see his blank-faced daughter standing there again.

"This is too much," he said, shaking his head, "Shinsou, I'll bring her back this time. Tell her to follow my orders, and to make herself invisible and go back to her home with me."

"What if she wakes up halfway?" objected Watanabe.

"I'll tell her who I am," said Nakajima grimly, "and that we were involved in trying to break a drug-smuggling racket, and that she's caused us a great deal of trouble with all her interfering ways."

He made off with his recalcitrant daughter.

"Youngjae, tell the flirty waitress that there's a fight in the bar and to go home," said Watanabe, "The bar's on fire, and I saw the manager himself running down the road. We'd better get out of here. The North Korean authorities don't like any sort of unrest, and you can be sure this bar is going to be out of business for some time, after this."

Shinsou told the flirty waitress to go home. They then hurried out of the shed, themselves. They were surprised to see a car parked nearby; its owner looked like some well-heeled tourist who had driven over to Wonsan for a holiday from Pyongyang. He had seen the fire from a distance, and had inquisitively driven over to have a closer look.

"Youngjae, brainwash this fellow, and make him give us a lift back," ordered Watanabe.

Once they were safely ensconced inside the car, both Shinsou and Watanabe began changing out of their disguises. Ryoko managed to find one of Yoshida's hairs, and swallowed it.

"Miaow, what a night," she said, leaning back against the car seat in relief, "I was really frightened when the fight started. I think I must have dropped three glasses and broken some bottles. Shinsou-kun, you fought great! I saw you kicking the gun out of that drug thug's hand!"

"Well, you did passably well as the waitress, too," said Shinsou generously, reapplying the the makeup for his deckhand's disguise.

"It has been a nerve-wracking evening," said Ryoko mournfully, "The men in the bar were so scary! Shinsou-kun, I really felt you were deserting me when you left. But I managed to protect myself by pretending I needed to use the loo every time they became too forward."

"Well, you won't have to do it any more," grunted Watanabe, "The bar's gone, but we did good tonight. We found out a lot of what we needed to know. I'll be spending the next few weeks trying to find out where that warehouse is. There'll probably be new work to do, once Nakajima has reported all of this to Fujiwara."


	17. The Stowaway

**17 THE STOWAWAY**

The team had been back in Tokyo for slightly over a week when Shinsou and Ryoko received an unexpected message from Chongryon: the Shiramine, instead of waiting till the following month, was going to sail again in a few days. It was summertime, and Chongryon wanted to have more "Fatherland Visitation" tours for the students in their schools, and so they were increasing the frequency of their trips there.

This was a setback for Nakajima, for he had wanted Kaneshiro to come with them to Wonsan, the next time around. Kaneshiro would have easily been able to locate the building where the smuggled goods were being housed – all he had to do was walk around the city centre, and place his hand on each building.

But there was no time for him to apply to work on the Shiramine, now. They had thought that they had a month to prepare, so Kaneshiro and Nakajima had been away in Niigata City during the first week, to see if they could locate the warehouse where Choe had been storing the goods that were to be smuggled. They had found the warehouse mentioned in the order form that Nakajima had taken from the deliverymen, but it was half empty and the goods there were mostly clothes destined for China and Vietnam.

Kaneshiro had posed as a deckhand before, while working on another case, so he could easily pass the certification test; and even if the training company couldn't issue the certificate on time, the Directorate could have forged one for him. But Chongryon was not recruiting new crew members at the moment.

In the end, Nakajima got Shinsou to brainwash a few Chongryon officials into setting the ball rolling for the paperwork required to recruit a few more deckhands. This was reasonable, for ships often employed more crew than the minimum required. Once this was done and the invitation for applicants had been issued, Shinsou could then brainwash the officials into accepting Kaneshiro's application. In the meantime, they would just have to proceed without him.

.

.

.

Nakajima had woken Yeonha from her brainwashed state once they had reached her apartment that night, and had scolded her roundly for interfering in things she knew nothing about, and which were none of her affair. She had already disrupted their operations twice, he informed her, and wasted their time, not to mention put all of them in danger.

She had cried, and promised not to do it again. And so, when the Kirogi next docked in Wonsan, she was not there to receive Shinsou. Watanabe had told her that they would be busy during the daytime, and that Nakajima and Shinsou would visit her and her mother that night instead.

The three Japanese agents spent the day trying to locate the warehouse. They singled out five prospective buildings in the city centre, all of which were in the later stages of construction, and checked each one systematically, floor by floor, but came up with nothing.

"This is no good," Nakajima finally said, frustrated, "we'll just have to wait until Kaneshiro comes, next time."

It was around five in the evening by then, and they decided to have a meal before going over to Park Soojin's apartment. Watanabe led them to a _pojang macha_ , or tent bar, which was a makeshift stall that sold street food and alcoholic drinks late into the night. They had _kimbap_ , which Shinsou usually considered to be a Korean version of sushi, and which he had eaten often enough at New Life Church with the church Kims. He had expected Nakajima to order _soju_ for drinks, but Watanabe said rather excitedly that he'd heard that the _nongtaegi_ at this pojang macha was good, and so they had that, instead.

 _Nongtaegi_ referred to a homemade alcoholic drink, usually made from corn, fruit, or ginseng. It was Shinsou's first time trying it, and he didn't realise how potent it was until they had finished the meal and were halfway to Park Soojin's.

"I suppose I should have warned you," said Watanabe, looking amused, "some of these homemade drinks tend to give exceptional hangovers." He and Nakajima were looking annoyingly hangover-free, however.

"I wish I was dead," said Shinsou bitterly, having just thrown up in some nearby bushes, "I'm in no state to socialise tonight. I think I'll go back to the ship."

"No, you're in no condition to go back on your own," said Nakajima firmly, "you look as if you might collapse halfway. And we don't have time to accompany you back. Watanabe's got to go off, and Soojin and I have an appointment to visit that fellow Titus. You had better come along to the apartment, and sleep it off."

Yeonha was waiting for them when they arrived. She was looking subdued, expecting Shinsou to be angry with her as well, and so she was startled to see the state he was in. Park Soojin looked sympathetic, but also amused.

"Seijiro-san, you should know better than to give him that," she said.

"It didn't occur to me," said Nakajima, "he doesn't have any problem with soju."

It hardly registered to Shinsou when they left. He had collapsed on the sofa. His only consolation was that Yeonha had wanted to watch _Titanic_ again, that detestable movie which he considered overwatched, overhyped and oversentimental, and he didn't have to watch it with her now.

"You can watch," he said, lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, "just pretend that I'm watching with you."

"Do you want me to get you anything?" asked Yeonha, looking worried.

"No," said Shinsou irritably, inwardly cursing Watanabe and his choice of alcoholic drinks, "just leave me here to die in peace."

He heard her chuckling, and that was the last he remembered as he drifted off into unconsciousness.

He must have fallen asleep, but he wasn't so drunk that he wasn't able to dream. He dreamed that he was making love with Ayumi. It felt very real. He could feel her body against his, the silky smoothness of her hair as he ran his fingers through it, and the softness of her mouth as he kissed her. He was feeling too sluggish to do very much, though, so when he felt her hands beginning to unbutton his shirt, he gently pushed them away.

"Ayumi, no, stop," he said softly, laughing a little, "I'm just too drunk right now to do this."

After that he didn't remember anything, but he woke up after a while. The room was all in darkness, and he couldn't figure out where he was, at first. Then it slowly came back to him that he was in Wonsan, and that he should be in the living room next to Yeonha, watching a movie. He must have fallen asleep on the sofa. He glanced down. It wasn't a sofa he was lying on now; it was a bed.

He sat up. The room was dark, but not so dark that he wasn't able to make out that he was in the room that Yeonha shared with her mother. Yeonha was sitting quietly on the bed next to him, watching him.

"Yeonha?" he said, trying to think clearly. He still felt half-awake, and his head was still aching from the _nongtaegi_. "What … how did I get here?"

"You fell asleep on the sofa," she said quietly, "I tried waking you, to ask if you might feel more comfortable on the bed. But you were half asleep. I think that you were sleepwalking, but I managed to bring you here."

"But …" Shinsou shook his head, trying to clear it, "Why? You could have just let me remain on the sofa."

Yeonha didn't reply at once. When she did, it wasn't to answer his question.

"Who's Ayumi?" she asked, in a strange voice.

Shinsou was suddenly more awake.

"Yeonha," he said, turning to her and sounding slightly suspicious, "Did you get into the bed with me?"

She hesitated, and then said in a small voice, "Yes."

Shinsou was wide awake now.

"Are you _crazy_?" he said furiously, "What if they had come back?! Your father would _murder_ me if he found me in bed with you!"

"You mean my mother," said Yeonha, correcting him automatically, "or your father."

"Yes, that, both," said Shinsou, distractedly. He looked at her, bewildered. "Why did you do it?"

"Who's Ayumi?" she persisted.

Shinsou put a hand to the back of his neck.

"She's a girl I've been seeing on and off, for the last couple of years," he said.

"Your girlfriend?" said Yeonha, in an odd voice.

"We've been seeing each other," said Shinsou, thinking it would be wiser not to mention the breakup, "but we hadn't really decided whether we should go steady. We were open to dating other people, too. At least, I think she probably dates other boys."

"And you date other girls," said Yeonha, "without telling them that you already have a girlfriend."

Shinsou stared at her. "What are you trying to say?"

"You should have told me," said Yeonha, staring down at the mattress, "that you already have a girlfriend."

Shinsou closed his eyes. One had to be careful what one said when having this sort of conversation, and a hangover didn't make that very easy.

"I didn't because I thought it would make me sound arrogant," he said.

"Arrogant?" said Yeonha, confused, "Why?"

"Well, I felt that you probably only saw me as a friend, and that we were going out as just friends," explained Shinsou, "If I had said, 'oh by the way, I have a girlfriend', you might have thought, 'this guy is so thick-skinned, he thinks I'm interested in him'."

"But we were holding hands, in the beginning," she said, in a small voice.

Shinsou gave a short laugh.

"But that was because you wanted to make me invisible!" he pointed out.

There was a pause, and then she said with an edge to her voice, "So, that was all that it meant, to you."

Shinsou closed his eyes. His head was aching.

"Yeonha," he said, "you know, I've mentioned often enough that the _Kirogi_ could stop coming here at any time, haven't I?"

"Yes," she said, softly.

"I mention it to remind you that us getting into a relationship wouldn't be a wise thing to do," said Shinsou, trying to make out her face in the dark, "If we had one, we'd have to stop after a while, once the ship stops coming. We'd both just get hurt in the end. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. You know that, don't you?"

She gave a small sob. "Don't you care about me, at all?"

This is going nowhere, thought Shinsou, frustrated.

"Don't you think it would be dangerous to start caring for each other?" he said.

She was quiet for a few moments, and then said softly, "I guess I've just been fooling myself, all this while."

Shinsou put a hand to his throbbing head.

"I shouldn't have allowed myself to get into this," he thought, bitterly.

Aloud, he said quietly, "Yeonha … I'm having a really bad headache … I can't talk to you when I can't think clearly. I'm going to go outside and get a bit more sleep on the sofa. And I think you should sleep, too. I'll talk to you later, all right?"

He didn't wait for her to respond, but got up and left the room.

He managed to doze off on the sofa, but it seemed to him that he had hardly closed his eyes when he heard the front door open. Nakajima had returned, with Park Soojin.

"Youngjae?" Park Soojin's face was dimly visible, and he realised that it was already dawn. "I'm sorry if we woke you up. Is Yeonha sleeping in the room?"

"Yes," said Shinsou briefly.

"I can't see you that clearly," said Nakajima, "but from what I can see, you still look terrible."

"I still feel terrible," said Shinsou sourly, "I'm not drinking _nongtaegi_ again."

Nakajima chuckled. He was looking blissfully sober and headache-free.

"Let's get you back," he said, "No need to disturb Yeonha if she's sleeping. _Yeobo_ , say goodbye to her for us, will you? Tell her we'll see her next time."

Shinsou had mixed feelings as he and Nakajima made their way back in the pale dawn light.

"It probably wouldn't be wise to see her again," he thought, "I've got to let Nakajima know, somehow. Maybe I should have said goodbye … or maybe it's best that things are left hanging, like this. There would never be a happy outcome, no matter what … the only reason she likes me is because she thinks that I'm a Zainichi Korean. Once she finds out that I'm not, she'd be even more upset … she'll realise that I've been deceiving her, all along. It'll be more painless if she just finds out that the Kirogi isn't coming any more. She'll get over it, and find someone else eventually. As for defecting, it was never in my hands. It only matters whether Nakajima can persuade Park Soojin to leave. He doesn't seem to be having any success with that. It has been months … "

Watanabe was waiting near the ship, ready to escort Shinsou on board. The hangover was still so bad that Hwang could see he was in no condition to do any work, and so the First Mate dismissed him to his cabin for the morning, and gave his duties to someone else.

He was still feeling poorly after lunch, but Hwang was no longer willing to let him off, so Shinsou brainwashed Lazy Jang into doing his chores for him. The first task was to double check that everything in the hold had been lashed down properly, for the ship was rolling a fair bit. After that, he was supposed to mop the deck. He let Lazy Jang go up and do the mopping, but stayed in the hold himself, trying not to feel sick.

Ryoko presently tracked him down. She had found out that he was unwell, because someone else had brought the bottled water to the galley, and she had been worried about him.

At first, she just sat in sympathetic silence, while he leaned back against the wall, wondering what to do about Yeonha.

"Shinsou-kun," she said after a while, "something's bothering you, isn't it?"

"What?" said Shinsou. He reflected that Ryoko, despite being hopelessly stupid at everything else, was perversely clever when it came to noticing that he was out of sorts.

"You look upset," said Ryoko, "you keep staring into space."

"You already know, I'm having a hangover," said Shinsou, shortly.

"It's not just that," said Ryoko positively, "You look sad. Hangovers make people look ill, not sad."

Shinsou leaned back against the wall, and closed his eyes.

"It's Nakajima-san's daughter, isn't it?" said Ryoko, "She's fallen for you."

Shinsou opened his eyes, and stared at her.

"It's so obvious," asserted Ryoko, "She's nearly always waiting for you whenever we arrive, and then she kept coming to the bar, to look for you."

"Hirano, why don't you go away?" said Shinsou, leaning back against the wall again and looking the other way, "Mind your own business."

"I knew it!" said Ryoko triumphantly, "Oh miaow, this is so romantic!"

Shinsou closed his eyes again, hoping she would go away.

"So, what's wrong?" asked Ryoko, "You like her, don't you? She's so beautiful. And you've stopped seeing Ayumi, anyway."

"How did you know that?" said Shinsou, looking at her, startled.

"You don't have her photo in your phone any more," said Ryoko, "you don't get tons of messages from her with coquettish photos any more."

Shinsou closed his eyes, wishing he didn't feel so ill.

"Ayumi's probably with someone else, by now," he said, surprised to find himself replying, "but on my part, I told her I'd only stop seeing her until this assignment was over. Before I can start seriously seeing someone else, I'd need to see her again first, and clarify that the break is permanent."

"Miaow, you're such a decent guy, even though you're so scary," said Ryoko, patting him on the shoulder, "Other guys just cheat on their girlfriends like nothing. Or if they had separated temporarily, like you have with Ayumi, they wouldn't think twice about starting with someone else."

Shinsou tried not to think about the kissing the previous night.

"So, sparks have flown between you and Nakajima's daughter, have they?" said Ryoko, looking thrilled.

"Don't put it that way," said Shinsou, irritated. "There isn't anything, not on my part anyway. I thought I'd been careful not to get close to her. What's the point? The Shiramine is likely to be decommissioned eventually, and we won't go to Wonsan any more."

"That doesn't mean you won't return to North Korea in the future," Ryoko pointed out, "You might still end up being sent there as a covert operative, like Watanabe."

"Even then," said Shinsou, "I'd think twice before getting involved with my supervisor's daughter."

"Miaow, but his doctors say he's not going to be around for long," said Ryoko, sepulchrally.

"Yeonha only likes me because she thinks I'm a Zainichi Korean," added Shinsou, "Once she finds out that I'm actually Japanese, that will be the end of it. She'll probably feel that I've betrayed her."

"But she's half Japanese, herself!" protested Ryoko, "She's got to find out some time, hasn't she? And she'll find out that you had no choice but to put on an act, because your boss asked you to. The two of you can be reconciled, after that." 

"I doubt she'll ever find out she's Japanese," said Shinsou pessimistically, "Nakajima doesn't seem to be showing any sign that he's going to tell her. And I can see why. What's the use? She already feels she doesn't belong there because she's a Zainichi Korean. It'll be a hundred times worse if she finds out that she's half Japanese. Unless she defects, which doesn't seem to be happening at the moment, I think she's better off the way she is. She can continue hiding the fact that her mother came from Japan, and marry some North Korean guy, and eventually manage to assimilate."

"Miaow, but she's going to end up being a spy, thanks to that villain Choe," Ryoko reminded him, "She'll probably be an extremely good one too, if she takes after her father."

Shinsou looked gloomy. Perhaps he should have talked more to Yeonha about this; but it was too late, now.

Ryoko looked as if she was about to say something else, but Yoshi the dog, who had been lying on the ground not far away from them, suddenly sat up, and looking at something nearby, gave two short barks.

The two agents fell silent and looked around, wondering what had triggered the dog's behaviour. They started when Nakajima suddenly materialised in front of them. His right arm was positioned rather strangely; it looked as if he was gripping something behind him that was invisible.

"Youngjae," he said, looking at Shinsou with a grim expression, "There's something here that you should see."

He turned, and looked at the invisible object that he was holding. There was a pause of a few seconds, and then Yeonha too materialised in front of them, her eyes downcast, her face red from embarrassment and shame.

Shinsou stared at her in horror, unable to believe his eyes. He closed them, thinking that the apparition wasn't real and that she might disappear, but when he opened them again she was still there.

He gave her one wild look, and then got up, and crossed over to her in three strides.

"Yeonha, _what are you doing here_?" he hissed at her fiercely, almost beside himself. He had forgotten that Nakajima was there. He grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her. "Are you _mad_? You can't … two weeks away from school … you'll get missed … your mother … oh God, no, no, this is a disaster … _someone please tell me this isn't happening_!"

"Shin – I mean, Youngjae, stop that, you'll hurt her!" exclaimed Ryoko, coming over and pulling Shinsou away.

Yeonha's lip trembled. She had not gone to sleep when Shinsou had left the bedroom, but had sat in an agony, wondering what to do. When he had left without saying goodbye, she had somehow known that he was never going to come back. The thought of losing him was intolerable, so she had made herself invisible and left the house without telling her mother, and had made her way over to the port where the Kirogi was anchored. Being invisible, she had boarded the ship quite easily, and had stowed herself away in a far corner of the hold. She could not make herself invisible while she was sleeping, however, and that was how Nakajima had found her.

She had hoped that Shinsou might feel even a fraction of the devastation that she had felt at the thought of them never being able to see each other again, but there wasn't the slightest sign in his face that he was glad to see her. He looked totally horrified. She was young, and blinded by love, and at the moment she didn't see what he saw – that she was going to go missing from school for a fortnight, something you just couldn't do in a country like North Korea without serious consequences; and that her mother was going to be hauled away by the authorities to account for it.

Nakajima watched the expressions on the faces of the two young people, and began to realise the results of involving his trainee with his family affairs.

"Jiyeon, bring Yeonha to your cabin, will you?" he said quietly to Ryoko, "You're the only female crew member on board, and no one will find her there. Yeonha-ya, this is Kim Jiyeon. She works in the ship's kitchen. Stay with her, and keep yourself invisible. I'll be back to see you shortly."

He waited till they had left, and then turned to Shinsou, and looked at him for a while.

"Shinsou, I got you too involved in my personal affairs," he said at last, "I'm sorry."

Shinsou was still suffering the last remnants of his hangover, and his discretion deserted him.

"I'm glad you've finally realised that," he said, sarcastically.

Nakajima shook his head slightly.

"I suppose I should have known," he began, but Shinsou interrupted him.

"Nakajima-san, you have to use the satellite phone and call Watanabe immediately," he said urgently, "Tell him to take Park Soojin into hiding … maybe Titus can help – "

"I did that, the minute I found Yeonha," said Nakajima, "He's probably looking for her now. He says he'll get back to me."

Shinsou felt only slightly relieved. He had a terrible feeling that something was wrong, but he noticed the same anxiety in Nakajima's face, and decided not to say any more.

"Yeonha told me that the suggestion for her to stow away on board was yours," commented Nakajima.

Shinsou stared at him, speechless. And then, his eyes widened in indignation.

"I was _joking_!" he exploded, incensed, "and I said that _months_ ago! Because she was pelting me nonstop with questions about Japan, I just said jokingly that she might as well stow away on our ship, and then she could see it all for herself! I didn't mean it. It's unfair for her to put the blame on me now – "

"Calm down, son," said Nakajima, "I'm not blaming you. And I want to thank you, for putting up with Yeonha all this while, and for trying to help me out."

Shinsou made a small gesture of helplessness.

"What will happen now?" he asked, "I mean – she can't go back to North Korea, can she?"

"No," said Nakajima, "If Watanabe or Titus can't get Soojin out of the country, I'm hoping they can at least hide her until the Shiramine returns. I should be able to sneak her on board this ship, and into Japan. After that we'll see about getting the both of them to the U.S."

"Nakajima-san," said Shinsou firmly, "This is just my opinion, but I strongly feel that you should tell Yeonha the truth. That you're her father, and that I'm not your son. She trusts me because she thinks that I'm a Zainichi Korean, like her. I don't feel good continuing with this charade."

"I plan to, soon," Nakajima assured him, "but not just yet. Bear with me just a while longer, Shinsou. Until I can get her mother over to Japan. Yeonha might not believe me if I tell her the truth, and it would be better if Soojin was present."

Shinsou's heart sank. What if Park Soojin never makes it to Japan, he wondered.

"Shinsou," said Nakajima, "there's something I must tell you. Last night, while you were recovering from the effects of the _nongtaegi_ , Soojin and I went to see Titus. He's a pastor, and we got him to marry us."

Shinsou was amazed. It took him a few moments before he managed to find his voice.

"Congratulations, Nakajima-san!" he said, looking at his supervisor in wonder.

"Yes," said Nakajima quietly, "and so, since I've married her and can't run away, Soojin has finally agreed to try defecting to the U.S.

"When we get back to Tokyo, Yeonha will stay with me. She'll be wondering why you're not living with me, since you're supposed to be my son. I'm going to tell her that you've got a part-time job elsewhere, and so we've rented separate places. But I would like you to come over during the next two weekends, when you don't need to be at the Directorate."

"Weekends?" said Shinsou warily, "Why?"

"I don't think that Yeonha should be left alone," explained Nakajima, "She's going to enter the country illegally, and it'll be messy if that gets discovered. I can tell her to stay home and not to go out, of course, but if she's anything like me, I suspect that she won't be able to resist sneaking out because she thinks that she can get around undetected by being invisible. I'm going to keep an eye on her during the week, but I also need to see my lawyer. He's an old friend, and he'll agree to let me consult him during the weekends. I plan to leave whatever I have to Yeonha in my will, and something tells me I should do it as soon as possible, and not wait until we've moved to the U.S. I need to discuss with my lawyer about how this can be done. I'm hoping that you can keep an eye on her during the weekends while I settle this."

Shinsou looked speculatively at his supervisor for a few moments, and then nodded. Just another two weekends, he thought, and then this should all be over.

.

.

.

Watanabe eventually got back to Nakajima the following morning, and the news was not good. Park Soojin had not gone to work the previous day. Watanabe had been afraid that the authorities had taken her away, although he felt it was too early for that to happen – Yeonha would have to miss school for at least a few days before anyone became suspicious. However, he had managed to bribe the _inminban_ leader in their apartment block for information, and she had told him that she had seen "the rich man from Pyongyang" arrive in the morning just as Soojin was leaving for work. They had gone back into the apartment, and the _inminban_ leader had then heard them quarrelling. After a while, there was silence. The _inminban_ leader waited for a few hours, but when no one came out, she took the set of keys that she had, and entered the apartment, only to find it empty.

"Don't bother finding some way to rush back," Watanabe had firmly told Nakajima, "There's nothing you can do here that I can't. I presume that villain Choe has warped Soojin away to Pyongyang, to get her away from you. I've got contacts there, and I'll track her down, somehow."

Nakajima had seemed calm enough when he conveyed this news to Shinsou, but the latter could see the strain in his supervisor's eyes.

He felt sure that Nakajima would later take refuge at the bow of the ship, where he always liked to stand; and sure enough, in the late afternoon when there was a rest break and Shinsou wandered out near the prow, he was there.

"I'm here," he heard Nakajima's voice next to him, "and so is Yeonha."

Shinsou looked around in surprise, but of course saw nothing, since both of them were invisible.

"She'd probably like to talk to you," added Nakajima, "I'm going back to the hold. Yeonha-ya, make sure you go back to Jiyeon's cabin after this."

"Yes, abeonim," she said, softly.

She waited for a minute, until she felt sure that Nakajima had gone, and then said hesitantly, "Youngjae?"

"Yes," said Shinsou, briefly.

"I want to apologise," she said, in a subdued tone, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come on board. I – I just didn't think. I owe my mother an apology. And I'm sorry, too, for misunderstanding, about us … making an issue of it … "

Shinsou couldn't see her expression, but he felt a wave of pity for her. She was trying to make the best out of a bad situation. Maybe if he had talked to her longer and said goodbye before he'd left, she might not have followed him on board the ship. It had been hard for him to think clearly with the hangover.

"It's all right," he said quietly, "forget about it."

"Well, I hope we can still be friends, at least," she said, timidly.

Shinsou stared at the smooth muscles of wave out at sea, rhythmically rising and falling. Could he have done anything to prevent all this, he wondered. What if Park Soojin died?

"Of course, I'd like to be friends," he said mechanically, and then asked, "What did Otosan tell you about your mother?"

"He says that she's all right," she said, sounding relieved, "Samchon managed to find her, and has hidden her away somewhere, till this ship can return to Wonsan. Abeonim says that he can then bring her to Japan."

Shinsou's heart sank. Probably Nakajima had lied to Yeonha because he didn't want her to worry, but she would take it even more badly now if something had really happened to her mother.

"Abeonim told me he always likes standing out here, at the bow of the ship," confided Yeonha, "It makes him feel free, he says."

"Yes," said Shinsou absently, still distracted over Park Soojin, "Like in _Titanic_."

He suddenly realised what he'd said. "That horrible cheesy pose," he thought, cringing, "why on earth did I bring it up. If she's going to imitate it here at the bow, I don't want to know, and she had better remain invisible."

Yeonha, however, saw the look of revulsion on his face, and laughed.

"I know what you're thinking," she said, chuckling, "and I know that you don't like that movie. And no, I'm not going to imitate that _Titanic_ pose, here at the bow."

"The movie's not that bad," Shinsou said grudgingly, "Just a tad overhyped."

Yeonha, however, was thinking about something else.

"Abeonim says that I can stay at your apartment, while I'm in Tokyo," she said, seriously, "He says he'll show me Japan. In particular, the place where he grew up. Your grandmother is still alive, he says, and it always bothered her that he never gave her a granddaughter. I can be his daughter, he says, and meet her, and be a substitute granddaughter to her."

"That sounds nice," said Shinsou, smiling slightly.

"I didn't know he wasn't even a member of crew on board this ship," added Yeonha, "He's been coming just because he wants to see my mother, hasn't he?"

"Yes," said Shinsou, "that would be one of the main reasons."

"Would you mind?" asked Yeonha, sounding troubled, "if abeonim married my mother?"

"No," Shinsou answered honestly, "No, I wouldn't mind at all."

"Then I'd be your sister," said Yeonha reflectively, "and abeonim wouldn't have to pretend to his mother that I'm her granddaughter."

"No," agreed Shinsou, now smiling, "there'd be no need to pretend. Abeonim would be your father for real, and she would be your grandmother."


	18. (PART 3 THE FINAL CROSSING) 18 Tokyo

**l**

* * *

 **~ C.R.O.S.S.I.N.G ~ T.H.E ~ E.A.S.T ~ S.E.A ~**

* * *

 ** **P.A.R.T. T.H.R.E.E****

 **T.H.E F.I.N.A.L C.R.O.S.S.I.N.G**

* * *

 **18 TOKYO**

The Shiramine came to port at Niigata City on a Friday evening. Nakajima stayed in an apartment in Tokyo not too far from the Directorate, and he gave Shinsou his address and a spare set of keys, and told him to come over the following morning. He was bringing Yeonha home with him, he said, but he would be leaving for Osaka the next day, for that was where his lawyer friend lived.

Shinsou thought about the situation all the way back to the Directorate. He reflected that he only had about two weeks left with Yeonha now, before the Shiramine was due to sail again. He should have known how things would turn out. She had been lonely, back in North Korea, and when someone whom she had perceived as a Zainichi Korean the same age as herself had turned up, she had naturally attached herself to him.

She alone had been kept in the dark about her own identity. He knew that her world was going to collapse, for he secretly felt sure that Park Soojin was dead. How would she respond to finding out that Nakajima was her father, he wondered. She might resent him for not having married her mother earlier, and for not being there all those years she had been growing up.

If she rejected him, then she would be left with nothing. No parents, no country, no belongings, the sudden knowledge that she was half–Japanese, and being suddenly thrust into a new country where she knew no one. Shinsou wondered if he should put his attachment to Ayumi aside for these two weeks, and be kind to Yeonha. It seemed the least he could do, and after all, the chances of him getting back together with Ayumi were slim. He could tell that Yeonha still liked him. She had taken his rejection of her graciously enough, and had still wanted to be friends.

As he made his way over to Nakajima's flat the next morning, he knew that Yeonha, despite having watched her share of foreign movies, was going to have severe culture shock once she saw what Japan was like. When Nakajima opened the door, he had a small travel bag with him, and it was evident that he was already about to leave. He took a debit card out, and gave it to Shinsou.

"She needs clothes," he informed Shinsou, "spend whatever you need to." And then he added in an undertone, so that Yeonha wouldn't hear, "I put her in the guest room, last night. And I've told her that there are no photos of my previous wife in this apartment because I've kept them away, since I plan to marry Soojin some time."

And with that, he left.

Yeonha was still in the guest room. Shinsou had been wondering why she hadn't come out when he had arrived, but when he knocked and looked in, he saw why. She was sitting on the bed, trying not to cry.

"Yeonha?" He went over, and sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," she said in despair, "I've made such a mess of things. I feel down. Really, really down."

Shinsou put his arm around her. She was quiet for a while, letting him hold her, and then she said in a muffled voice, "I guess I'm a little homesick. And I'm beginning to realise what it'll mean if I lose my mother..."

"You should try to think positively," said Shinsou, trying to reassure her, "and you also have samchon, and my father. They'd look out for you."

She gave a small laugh.

"Samchon is far away in Wonsan," she said, "and abeonim – he's been very kind, but that's only because of Eomma. If she's not around, I have no tie to him."

"That's not true," said Shinsou, looking seriously at her, "Otosan sees you as his daughter already. He told me so. Even if your mother isn't around, he will adopt you."

She threw him a grateful look, but still appeared troubled.

"Do you mind, Youngjae-oppa?" she asked quietly, looking at him, "that all your mother's photos have all been removed?"

"Well, I hardly come here, anyway," said Shinsou truthfully enough, "and I've been glad that my father has found someone new. He's been lonely."

"This room that I'm using must have been yours," said Yeonha, looking reflectively around, "but none of your things are here, at all."

"No, I've never stayed here," answered Shinsou, "my father only rented this place recently. All my things are at my other rented apartment." He decided that he'd better get her out of the apartment, so that she would stop questioning him. "Come on, let's go shopping. You'll cheer up if there are new things for you to look at. But I warn you, it may be a bit of a shock."

It was indeed a shock, to her. Nakajima had driven her to Tokyo from Niigata City the previous night, but it had been dark, and so the full impact of being in Japan had not hit her yet. It was Saturday, so she was spared the weekday morning rush hour, but there were still enough people and traffic around.

"There are so many cars here," she said, overwhelmed, "and so many people. Are those tourists? There aren't any minders with them."

"Yes," said Shinsou, laughing, "there aren't any minders in Japan for tourists."

They went to the train station to take the subway, and she was shocked at the number of trains coming and going, modern-looking and well-maintained, all arriving and leaving exactly on time.

She was, of course, also quite overcome the first time she entered a department store. The sheer variety of goods there, coupled with the beautiful packaging, made her speechless. Shinsou led her to the clothes section; he had followed Ayumi there shopping often enough.

"Get whatever you need," he said, preparing to stay for a few hours and be bored.

"How do you convert yen to yuan?" asked Yeonha, looking worriedly at the price tags.

"Don't worry about the cost," said Shinsou, "Otosan is paying for it."

She still looked worried, though, and chose what looked like the cheapest clothes.

"Is that all you're getting?" asked Shinsou, looking critically at her selection.

"Yes," she said timidly. Then she added sadly, "I left my jacket at home. The one you bought for me."

"No matter," said Shinsou, unconcerned, "we can get you another one now."

"But it's not the same," said Yeonha, reddening, "That jacket's special. Do you think you could get it for me from the apartment when you next go to Wonsan?"

"I suppose so," said Shinsou, amused at how sentimental she was. "Let's pay for these clothes now, and then get some lunch."

They went to the basement of the department store, where she was fascinated by all the different types of food available. While eating, she didn't say much, and after a while Shinsou asked her what she was thinking.

"There are many recycling bins in Japan," she said gravely, looking at him.

He hadn't been expecting this answer. "So?" he said, amused.

"If there are recycling bins, it means that you have something to throw away," she said solemnly, and then added, "and the electricity is so reliable, here! I haven't seen a single power outage since I came. And abeonim's flat is nice and new, including the toilet; not like mine. People here can travel to any city they like without a permit!"

He looked thoughtfully at her, and smiled.

"After this, can we go to an airport?" she asked, looking serious.

"Of course," said Shinsou, "I had planned to bring you." He looked at her in concern. "Are you all right?"

She shrugged, but there was a pensive expression on her face.

"I don't know," she said, looking around at the department store basement, with all of its food stalls and throngs of shoppers, "I can't get used to it. This is all so different from Wonsan, you know. I feel like I've entered another world. I've seen things like this in movies, but actually experiencing it around me is different. People here are all so well-dressed. There are so many beautiful things to buy. There are so many cars and buses and trains, and so many beautiful buildings. And there are no patriotic banners or posters around at all!"

Shinsou looked at her. "I think you're still a little homesick," he commented.

She smiled sadly.

"Yes," she said, "even though I wouldn't go back to North Korea. I've seen it for myself now – that the government there has lied to us, all this while – but it would be nice to see all the old familiar faces again, and the places that I've been used to."

He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze, much to her surprise.

"You'll get used to it here, after a while," he said reassuringly, "shall we go to the airport now?"

He brought her to Shibuya Station West, where they were able to catch a bus to Haneda Airport. He let her have the window seat, so that she could look out, but after a while he noticed that she still looked troubled.

"I can't help worrying about my mother," she said, noticing him looking at her, "If she was all right, I could enjoy being in Japan, and seeing everything here that's new. But I miss her, and I wish she was here. There are so many people here, and I don't know any of them. It's terrible to stand in the middle of a crowd and feel completely alone!"

Shinsou gave a small sigh, and put his arm around her.

She slipped a hand into his, and he gave it a squeeze. There was no point holding back, for he was all she had at the moment, and there was nothing else he could do to comfort her. After all, he told himself, it's just a week more, and then he might not see her again.

It took about an hour to reach the airport, and he brought her to the international terminal. She was amazed at the number of passengers wandering around, and the frequency of flights. She stood for quite a long time, just looking at the display showing the list of departures and arrivals.

"Now I know why you were so surprised at Kalma Airport," she said, shaking her head, "It's just hard to believe – people coming here from all over the world, and going away to other parts of the world, with no restrictions."

They went up to the viewing deck, where she was able to watch the aircraft landing and taking off.

"I left my book on aircraft in Wonsan, as well," she said with a small sigh, watching as a Dreamliner took off. She stood for a long while, just watching, and then seemed to rouse herself. She said soberly to Shinsou, "Oppa, thank you for spending this time with me. I know you'd rather be with your girlfriend, wouldn't you?"

Shinsou hesitated, and then said, "Well … we had a misunderstanding and broke up, some months ago, actually. I think she must be with someone else, by now."

Yeonha turned, and looked at him.

"She can't have loved you much then," she said with unexpected fierceness, "if she gave you up so easily!"

"I don't know," said Shinsou, looking with a troubled expression at an aircraft that was taxiing out to the runway, "I didn't give her a chance to say what she wanted to say, perhaps. I've been meaning to contact her again, and clarify things with her."

"She doesn't deserve you," said Yeonha, looking out at the runway as well, an indignant expression on her face. "Tell me," she added, in a crestfallen tone, "if you didn't have her, would I have stood a chance with you?"

"Yeonha," said Shinsou gently, turning her and looking into her face, "you're beautiful. You'll find someone else, in time. Look at the house party we went to – there were so many other boys there, all hanging around you! And you think that you know me, but you don't. When you find out about the real me, you might find that you don't want me after all."

A look of despair came over her face because she felt he was rejecting her again, and there was such a hurt look in her eyes that he said, "Come here," and took her into his arms, and held her tight. She broke down and cried, then. Shinsou held her for a while, until she had stopped sobbing and seemed calmer. However, when he said that it was getting late and they had started going back into the terminal to get some dinner, he allowed her to slip her hand into his.

She was quiet all the way home, although she held on tightly to his hand. When they reached the apartment, she was tired. She had a shower, and then thought she'd just lie down on her bed for a few minutes and rest a bit, but promptly fell fast asleep. As for Shinsou, he decided to sleep on the sofa. He would have felt extremely odd sleeping in Nakajima's bed.

The next morning, he decided to bring Yeonha to New Life Church, thinking that she might feel less homesick if she heard Korean being spoken all around her. He explained to her that he had started going to the church to practise his Korean, but that she had better pretend that she was Japanese, since her North Korean accent would give her away. He would introduce her as Yuna, which was what her mother called her.

The church Kims were excited to see that Shinsou appeared to have acquired a girlfriend. Miriam and Isaac giggled, and had lots of questions. Fortunately, their Japanese still wasn't very good, and Yeonha was able to pretend that she couldn't understand Korean. The Korean girls who usually hung around the drinks stall, eyeing Shinsou, looked sulky, but Younghee was approving.

"She's very pretty, Youngjae," she said enthusiastically, "where did you meet her?"

"Oh, someone introduced us at a party," said Shinsou, vaguely.

In the afternoon, Shinsou was afraid that the church Kims would want to go shopping, in which case it might be difficult to hide the fact that Yeonha was new to Japan, but to his relief, they wanted to watch a movie.

Yeonha was shocked at the cost of the tickets, but tried not to show it. Once they were sitting in darkness, Shinsou didn't object to her slipping her hand into his. Miriam noticed, though, and she and Isaac began giggling.

"Children, keep quiet!" said Kim Minjun, annoyed, "You're disturbing the other cinema-goers. What is so funny?"

When the movie was over, Shinsou decided that it was time to leave. He had told the church Kims that Yeonha was still a student, studying foreign languages like English, but they started asking where the school was, and he was beginning to find their questions too troublesome to handle.

Nakajima had come back by the time they reached the apartment, and Shinsou decided that he had better take his leave.

"No, I won't stay for dinner," he said, "I have to start work early tomorrow." He had told her vaguely that he was doing a variety of odd jobs, to supplement his income. He felt it would be wiser for him to leave, for it might become too obvious to Yeonha that he and Nakajima didn't behave toward each other as a father and son should.

Yeonha looked disconsolate, but Shinsou promised to see her the following weekend, and told her to enjoy her trip to Tohoku that week.

.

.

.

After the rather surreal experience of discovering Yeonha on board the Shiramine and then spending the weekend accompanying her around Tokyo, it felt good to be back at the Directorate and going through the familiar rounds of training. Ryoko had told Kaneshiro about Yeonha, and she demanded an update from Shinsou the minute she saw him.

"Nothing much is happening," he said evasively, "Nakajima's letting her stay in his guest room."

"Miaow, is that all?" said Ryoko, disappointed.

"Shinsou," said Kaneshiro, "I will need you to go down to the Chongryon office and see about my job application for the Shiramine. It's leaving earlier than expected again, next Tuesday, to be precise."

"Tuesday?" said Shinsou, his heart giving a small leap, "We'll soon be able to find out what happened to Park Soojin, then."

"It's hard to say," said Kaneshiro soberly, "Watanabe hasn't been able to trace her yet, and there's not a lot more that we can do, if he can't."

.

.

.

Shinsou only came over to Nakajima's flat on Sunday morning, for the latter had told him that he and Yeonha would not be back from Tohoku until Saturday night. He was leaving for Osaka again, and told Shinsou that he wouldn't be able to come back until Monday evening.

"I'll have to sign some documents, and I'll only be able to do it at my lawyer's office when it opens on Monday morning," he explained, "I suppose there's no help for it, Yeonha will have to stay home alone once you leave for work. I've already told her so, and that if I can't get back from Osaka on time, I'll go directly to the Shiramine on Tuesday. She knows that she'll have to stay on her own for a few days, because the Shiramine will only be returning on Friday."

Yeonha looked very thoughtful when Shinsou asked her how her week with Nakajima had been.

"It was very meaningful," she said gravely, "we went to see your grandmother in Iwate."

"I've hardly been to Iwate," remarked Shinsou – Nakajima had told him to make this story up – "My grandmother disapproved when Otosan married my mother, and so I've been in Tokyo all the while."

"That's a great shame," said Yeonha sympathetically, "Well, anyway, she gave me this." She pulled out a simple pearl pendant that she was wearing.

Shinsou smiled. "It's very nice."

"I've never owned any jewellery before this," said Yeonha, her eyes large. "It's very precious. Your grandmother said her father gave it to her. She said he used to work on a farm that produced cultured pearls."

"It suits you," commented Shinsou, "What else did you do, there?"

"Abeonim brought me to Geibi Gorge," said Yeonha, now looking awed, "and to Lake Inawashiro, and to the Oga Peninsula in Akita. The cliffs by the sea are so sheer and wild and beautiful, in Oga! And we stayed in such nice resthouses. Not grand like the hotel at Masikryong, but clean and pretty and modern. I loved it, it was a new experience for me. Abeonim seemed happy too, he said that he used to enjoy visiting all these places when he was a boy."

"I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself," said Shinsou, rather touched that Nakajima had been showing his daughter all his old haunts, "So, what would you like to do today? Would you like to visit the church again?"

"No, if you don't mind," she said, looking rather shy, "They're very nice, the church people, but they ask so many questions. I think I'd like to continue looking at scenery. Can we just go to a park, and talk?"

Shinsou decided to bring her to Showa Kinen Koen, which was a vast, sprawling park just outside Tokyo. Cycling paths ran through it, and there were also multiple wide lawns where visitors could picnic, as well as woodlands with walking trails, and both Japanese and western style gardens.

They got off the train at Nishi-Tachikawa station, and rented some bicycles from the kiosk just inside the park entrance. They spent the rest of the day exploring the park. There was a profusion of flowers in bloom which made Yeonha very happy – azaleas, tulips and poppies – and they sat down amidst them to have lunch around noon, so that she could admire them.

But the best part came in the evening, for there was a fireworks festival on. They went early to the middle of the park in order to secure a good spot for viewing, because Shinsou knew that it would later become extremely crowded. Yeonha was thrilled by the atmosphere of excitement around her, and the throngs of happy people with picnic baskets. Many of the women were wearing yukata (she whispered to Shinsou that she missed her _hanbok_ , which had also been left behind in Wonsan). She adored the fireworks, clapping her hands and laughing and exclaiming like a child, so much so that Shinsou was amused; and when he put his arm around her she looked so happy that he felt a pang in his heart, wondering how long this would last.

When they got back to the apartment, it was late, and she hesitantly pulled him toward the guest room.

"Stay with me tonight," she whispered entreatingly, looking up at him.

"I can't, Yeonha, not yet," he said gently, wishing he didn't have to say no, "Not until I've settled things with Ayumi." But this wasn't his only reason. He knew that if he slept with her, it would hurt her twice as much once she found out who he really was.

She looked a little hurt, but he gave her a quick kiss, and then left her and went over to his sofa. The kiss seemed to have placated her, for she gave him a smile later as she passed through the living room to get something from the kitchen. He had some difficulty returning the smile. Once he left the next day for the Directorate, he probably wouldn't see her again. The Shiramine would be leaving for Wonsan the following day, and even if they didn't manage to find Park Soojin, Shinsou knew that Nakajima was likely to reveal everything to Yeonha once they returned.

He rose early the next morning. She was still asleep, and he stood for a while looking at her, wondering if he should wake her and say goodbye, but then thought better of it.

"Goodbye, Yeonha," he thought soberly, as he bent down and quietly gave her a kiss, "Good fortune go with you, wherever life might lead you, after this. And try not to think too hardly of me, once you know the truth … "

.

.

.

His first session that morning was with Makeover Girl. He removed the deckhand disguise, and she then spread out some clippings from a North Korean newspaper on the table for him to read.

"Your accent's not bad, now," she said approvingly, "and you were able to understand almost everything in the newspaper articles. I must say, you've come a long way."

"I've sweated blood to get this far," he pointed out. But he felt pleased, himself.

"Even Hirano has improved more than I imagined she could," continued Makeover Girl, "I've been making her practise imitating the Supreme Leader, so as not to waste those hairs you stole."

"It remains to be seen if she'll ever have a chance to use them," replied Shinsou, before taking his leave, and making his way to his karate class.

After lunch, he had weapons training. He had become a pretty good shot by now, and that day's session was at the simulation complex, where he had to run in and out of buildings in an abandoned town, and dispose of numerous moving targets.

"Good," said Iridium briefly, looking inscrutably at him. This was unusual for her; generally she was as frugal with praise as Kaneshiro was.

Shinsou's next stop was room six. Ryoko was there, waiting for Kaneshiro to arrive with the latest notes from the Data Analysis Department. They were going to discuss the upcoming trip, but Shinsou asked her first if there was any news of Park Soojin.

"Still none, as far as I know," said Ryoko, looking mournful, "Kaneshiro says that Watanabe's still looking for her. But it's always good to hope."

Shinsou thought he heard a faint noise at the end of the room, near the window; but when he turned, he saw nothing.

Ryoko was looking at Shinsou. From the expression on her face, he knew what she was about to ask.

"Miaow," she said inquisitively, "are you sure you haven't been seeing Somebody at all since arriving in Tokyo?"

"Drop the subject," said Shinsou bluntly, "I don't keep asking you about Lee every time I see you, do I?"

Ryoko went pink.

"Although I suppose I could," added Shinsou, looking speculatively at her, "since you're blushing, I presume that you've come round to accepting him."

"I guess he's not that bad, after all," admitted Ryoko sheepishly, "He's sort of grown on me."

They were interrupted by Kaneshiro suddenly opening the door. He was looking serious as usual, but Shinsou felt that something was wrong.

"Shinsou," he said quietly, "come outside for a minute, please."

Shinsou quickly joined him outside. "Is it news of Park Soojin?" he asked anxiously, taking note of Kaneshiro's grim expression.

"No," said Kaneshiro, looking searchingly at Shinsou. He paused. "Are you aware that Nakajima's daughter is inside this room?"

"What?" said Shinsou, shocked.

"I realised it when I placed my hand on the doorknob," said Kaneshiro, "I gave Magnetron a call to send his drone over with this." He handed Shinsou a pair of infrared goggles.

Shinsou leaned against the wall, clutching the goggles, and tried to think. Yeonha must have followed him here. He hadn't expected this to happen.

"She knows who we are, now," he said, his heart sinking. "What shall I say to her?"

"She should be told the truth," said Kaneshiro, "but unfortunately, it should be her parents who should do the telling, not us. Let's see what she has to say."

Shinsou put the goggles on, as Kaneshiro opened the door. He could see Yeonha standing at one end of the room, by the window. He made his way over to her.

"Yeonha," he said calmly, "I know that you're there."

In a second, she materialised in front of him. There was a whole range of conflicting emotions on her face – bewilderment, confusion, amazement, disbelief.

Ryoko had clapped one hand over her mouth, in shock. Shinsou took the goggles off. The room seemed very silent; one could have heard a pin drop.

"I told you," he said quietly, facing Yeonha and looking soberly at her, "I'm not who you think I am."

She shook her head, gazing at him in bemusement.

"You're a _spy_ ," she whispered.

Shinsou sighed.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"I woke up when you left," she said, her face reddening, "You gave me a kiss, and went off. I didn't get to say goodbye, so I – I thought I'd follow you, and surprise you at your workplace."

"You followed me here," said Shinsou, looking keenly at her.

"Yes," she whispered, "I saw you take your disguise off." She looked at him in wonder. "I saw you at your karate class … and then the shooting …"

She came up to him, and looked searchingly into his face. "Why didn't you just tell me? I wouldn't have betrayed you! If I had known who you were, I wouldn't have interfered with your work at Koryo Bar! I wouldn't have followed you here …"

Shinsou hesitated; he didn't know how much he should tell her. He wished that Nakajima was there.

"How could I tell you?" he said, "We weren't supposed to tell anyone! We were Japanese agents operating on North Korean soil ..."

"But Eomma knew, didn't she?" Yeonha interrupted, looking intently at him.

Shinsou glanced at Kaneshiro. He couldn't start explaining why Watanabe had revealed their identities to Park Soojin, because it was going to lead to the fact that Nakajima was her father.

"So … you're not even a Zainichi Korean, are you?" said Yeonha slowly, "You couldn't be a spy working for Japan, otherwise. Even my mother lied to me that you were. Why? Why …"

"Yeonha, I can't explain it to you now," said Shinsou, "Otosan wanted to bring your mother here to Japan first so that they could explain it to you together – "

"I can't trust him either, any more," said Yeonha bitterly, "he lied to me, too. He told me that Eomma was all right, but now it seems that she's still missing! I know that I've lost her …" Tears began to roll down her face. She shook her head, and began slowly making her way over to the door.

"Yeonha!" said Shinsou, alarmed, "Where are you going?" He began following her.

"Leave me alone," she said in a muffled voice, "I can't trust anyone, any more." She stopped in mid-stride, suddenly; her face had gone blank.

"Let her go, Shinsou," said Kaneshiro quietly, putting a hand on Shinsou's arm, "If you brainwash her now, she'll really never trust any of us again."

"But what if she runs away and never comes back?" protested Shinsou, looking distraught, "With her power of invisibility, we'd never be able to find her! She's entered the country illegally. If she gets caught, it'll be a mess!"

"She'd just be a North Korean seeking asylum here," replied Kaneshiro, "The Japanese government would probably try to deport her back, but Fujiwara might be able to pull some strings and get her to the U.S. What are you going to do with her if you brainwash her? She can't stay locked in her father's flat!"

"I can order her to get her meals and live normally in the flat without running away," said Shinsou determinedly, "at least until the Shiramine returns."

"She'll know what you did when she finally wakes up and discovers that an entire week has passed," argued Kaneshiro, "I suggest that you wake her up!"

Shinsou woke Yeonha up. She turned, and looked suspiciously at the three agents in the room, obviously wondering if she had been brainwashed. A moment later, she vanished from view.

Shinsou watched helplessly as the door of room six opened and then closed by itself. The sound of the door closing was ominous; it seemed to symbolise the end of any hope of a happy ending to the entire sorry situation.


	19. The Abductees

**19 THE ABDUCTEES**

Nakajima sounded resigned when Shinsou called him and informed him about Yeonha.

"We'll have to let her go," he said, "for I'm not going home after all. I'm already on my way to the Shiramine. The Directorate has been placing scouts near the ship to monitor it, and last night they detected some peculiar activity."

He had asked Kaneshiro to join him there, as well. The latter had put on a disguise, and had cut his hair so that his wig would fit better. He had brown hair now, and looked like a homely, middle-aged man. Ryoko was happy that he was finally coming with them to North Korea, but she was grieved over the loss of his good looks, especially his long hair.

"It'll grow back, Hirano," said Kaneshiro, looking quite indifferent, "In this business, you shouldn't be sentimental about this sort of thing."

"What's happening at the Shiramine?" asked Shinsou.

"The scouts detected some large bundles being carried on board last night," replied Kaneshiro, "It was dark, so it wasn't possible to observe them in detail, but there were about ten of them. We're going to try finding out what they are."

"Maybe I should go early, too," suggested Shinsou.

"No. Nakajima can make me invisible so that I can board the ship and touch its exterior to get information about what's on board," said Kaneshiro, "but being invisible is of no use for your brainwashing. People will remember hearing a disembodied voice before they were brainwashed, or if you choose to be visible while brainwashing, you'll have to find some excuse as to why you've turned up so early. Just come at the usual time."

.

.

When Shinsou arrived at the ship the following day, Kaneshiro informed him that he thought the bundles had in fact been people – prisoners, to be precise, carried on board while they had been unconscious. He and Nakajima had not been able to get close enough to talk to them, for they were being housed in separate cabins in one of the lower decks, and there was a guard with a dog patrolling the corridor outside. The dog made their being invisible useless, for it could smell them.

"We'll have to hand it over to you, Shinsou," said Kaneshiro, "There are some officials from Chongryon on board accompanying the bundles. You'll have to brainwash them, or the Captain and First Mate, and find out what this is all about. As far as I can tell, the captives are Japanese, not Zainichi Koreans."

"Japanese prisoners?" said Shinsou, startled, "Then wouldn't it be better to get them off the ship before it sails?"

"We don't know who these prisoners are, or why they're being held captive," said Kaneshiro, "we'd have to find out first before we know whether we want to rescue them. We should still be able to do that, even after they arrive in Wonsan. In the meantime, Nakajima has asked the Directorate to check with the police for any reports of missing persons."

And so, the Shiramine set sail in due course. Shinsou, making his usual rounds with the bottled water, brainwashed both Jang and Hwang, but neither knew who the prisoners were. All they knew was that the Chongryon officials wanted them on board, and confined to their cabins.

Shinsou brainwashed Lazy Jang into doing his watch duty for him that night, so that he would have time to brainwash the Chongryon officials. The deckhands often swapped duties among themselves, and the Captain and First Mate didn't care who was on duty, so long as someone did the work. They were of course startled that Lazy Jang was doing any work at all, considering he usually did almost nothing; but it was such a marked improvement on his usual behaviour that they didn't query too much.

Shinsou and Nakajima invisibly monitored the Chongryon officials until they managed to get one of them alone, and Shinsou then became visible again and, pretending to offer him bottled water, brainwashed him.

Kaneshiro, who had finished his deckhand duties by this time, joined them at this point. The Chongryon official revealed that the prisoners were ordinary Japanese citizens whom they had abducted on behalf of the North Korean government. The regime wanted the prisoners to train their own North Korean spies in Japanese language and culture.

"I suspected that," said Nakajima grimly, "The North Koreans have done this before. Looks like they're still at it!"

Kaneshiro said, "Shinsou, ask the official where the prisoners will be taken once we've reached North Korea."

But the official didn't know. He said they would only be given further instructions once the ship had docked at Wonsan.

"Now we have two things to settle," remarked Kaneshiro, "both the smuggled goods in the warehouse, and these abductees as well."

"Let's go to the galley now," said Nakajima, "Those prisoners need to be fed. We need to find some way to talk to them."

Dinner had been over for some time by then, and Ryoko had just finished cleaning the galley, and was almost about to leave, when Shinsou turned up with bottled water.

"You go first," she said to Lee, who was following her as usual, "I'm going to talk to Youngjae for a while."

"But aren't we going for a stroll in the moonlight?" protested Lee, disappointed.

"Later, later," said Ryoko vaguely, waving him off.

They waited till Lee had left, looking rather jealous, and then briefed Ryoko on what they had discovered.

"Us cooks have been given instructions to prepare ten meals for collection by the Chongryon officials at every mealtime," she said, wide-eyed.

"Good," said Nakajima, "What time are you making breakfast?"

"They said they didn't need breakfast," said Ryoko, looking worried, "For lunch, they want it by half-past twelve."

"Shinsou, what are you doing around that time?" asked Kaneshiro.

"I'd have just gotten off watch duty," answered Shinsou, "it should be my lunch hour."

"Good," said Nakajima, "you'll have to brainwash those officials as well as the guard with the dog."

And so, once his watch duty was over the next day, Shinsou hurried over to the galley and managed to brainwash both the Chief Cook and Lee so that they wouldn't notice him hanging around the side room. He told them to continue with their duties as usual. He then lurked in the side room with an invisible Nakajima and Kaneshiro (who was also on lunch break) until two Chongryon officials turned up to collect the food. He then pretended to offer them bottled water, and brainwashed them.

"All right, Hirano," said Nakajima, becoming visible briefly and glaring at a nervous-looking Ryoko, "these two can't be in a brainwashed state when they deliver the food, because when they wake up they'll find that the prisoners have already eaten and wonder why they don't remember bringing the food to them. We're going to leave them here until we're done talking to the prisoners. Keep the door of the side room closed, and don't let anyone else see them!"

"But what if somebody does come in and see them?" protested Ryoko.

"Just say you don't know what they're doing in there, and that they're meditating or something," said Kaneshiro, "Shinsou, order the other two cooks to help her find some excuse if that happens."

Shinsou did as he said, and then asked, "What about the remaining Chongryon officials? They might be there when we arrive. There are four more of them, and it'll be difficult brainwashing so many at one go."

"Don't worry, I've taken care of them," said Nakajima calmly, "They're in the dining hall now, having lunch. I went over there just now and scattered some powder in their food that will give them severe indigestion. They won't bother us for a while."

He then made Shinsou and Kaneshiro invisible, and they hurried off to where the prisoners were being held.

Once they arrived, Shinsou became visible again, and entered the corridor where the guard was. Ignoring the growling dog, he pretended to offer the guard bottled water, and then promptly brainwashed him.

"Take your dog to an empty cabin at the end of the corridor, and leave it there for now," he ordered, "and then unlock the cabins as we go to each one."

Nakajima felt that, as far as possible, it would be better to brainwash the prisoners too, before talking to them. He didn't want them to know that intelligence agents were on board the ship, in case they let slip about it to the Chongryon officials.

The prisoners consisted of five women and five men. The youngest was a teenage girl, still in her school uniform. The women just seemed frightened, but some of the men tried to attack them the minute the door was opened, obviously hoping to escape.

Nakajima had been anticipating this, and he and Kaneshiro invisibly restrained them while Shinsou tried talking to them, and managed to brainwash them.

All the prisoners said they had been abducted while going about their usual daily routines. They came from a variety of walks of life, and Shinsou had the impression that Chongryon had randomly selected them. He asked them their names and occupations, and also which part of Japan they came from. Kaneshiro jotted the details down, at the same time taking photos of them.

Shinsou woke each brainwashed prisoner up as they left the cabins. They made the guard lock all the cabin doors again, and told him to patrol the corridor with his dog as usual. Kaneshiro sent the photos and list of names in encrypted form back to the Directorate, while Shinsou hurried back to the galley and woke the Chongryon officials there, and allowed them to leave with the food, none the wiser about what had happened.

"Here," whispered Ryoko, handing Shinsou a plate of food, since he was missing his lunch break. She had prepared food for Kaneshiro and Nakajima as well.

They discussed what to do next. Shinsou suggested he brainwash everyone on the ship, and make it turn around and sail back to Niigata. But Kaneshiro said that the ship didn't have enough fuel for that; it would have to dock and refuel at Wonsan before returning to Japan.

Shinsou then suggested that he brainwash the Chongryon officials into doing nothing with the abductees once they reached Wonsan, so that they could immediately sail back to Japan once the Kirogi had refuelled. But Nakajima said that the North Korean authorities would be in touch with the Chongryon officials, and if they became suspicious of anything, they might well prevent the ship from leaving. Besides, if the ship left Wonsan so soon, Kaneshiro wouldn't have time to find out where the warehouse with the smuggled goods in the city centre was. Nakajima wanted to find the warehouse as soon as possible, in case Choe suddenly removed the goods from it.

"We'll have to somehow rescue the prisoners when we reach Wonsan and also find the warehouse," mused Nakajima, "The prisoners we'll have to settle soon, for they might be separated and brought to different holding areas in North Korea, and it'll be much more complicated rescuing them then. Hirano, you'll have to do it."

"Me?" said Ryoko, startled.

"It's time for you to impersonate the Supreme Leader, Hirano," said Kaneshiro, "Even if Shinsou brainwashes the crew, it will look extremely suspicious if the Kirogi leaves so soon after arriving. But if the Supreme Leader orders it to leave, no one will dare object. Pretend that you don't want the abductees on North Korean soil, and issue an order for them to be returned to Japan."

"B-but people might know the Supreme Leader isn't in Wonsan, and that I'm a fake," said Ryoko nervously, "what if they just saw him in Pyongyang on TV?"

"He'll be in Wonsan over the next few days," said Kaneshiro, "because the Wonsan Air Festival is going to take place."

Ryoko, seeing that there was no escape, was beginning to look terrified. Nakajima said impatiently, "Yes, yes, you'll have to do it. Take some time to get used to the idea. We'll rehearse what you have to do."

.

.

Shinsou suspected that this would be his last sail on the Shiramine, and decided that he wanted to stand for a while near the bow of the ship as they were nearing the end of the journey, so that he could watch North Korea appear on the horizon for one last time. He was supposed to be mopping the deck around that time, so he brainwashed Lazy Jang into doing it for him.

When he reached the bow, he unexpectedly saw Kaneshiro there.

"I've got a rest break now," explained the junior supervisor. Nakajima was there too, and he and Kaneshiro had been reminiscing about some of the cases they had solved together, in the past.

"Both Nakajima and I like being here at the bow," said Kaneshiro, smiling slightly and turning to Shinsou, "We like standing at the front of the ship, feeling the movement of rushing forward, and that you're going somewhere. Nakajima and I have gone out on ships together for a few cases, and we somehow always find ourselves gravitating toward the bow."

"I thought I'd like to watch the smudge of land appear on the horizon," explained Shinsou, "since this might likely be the final trip."

"There'll be other trips for you, young man," said Nakajima, "it's highly likely you'll be sent to North Korea again."

"But our group will probably go back to monitoring Chongryon again, after this," Shinsou objected.

Kaneshiro shrugged.

"Things do change," he said, "The Directorate might decide to transfer you here as a covert operative, especially if you've performed well in this assignment. It would be a waste of your training, otherwise."

"Shinsou," said Nakajima, "I've been telling Kaneshiro that I want to blow up the warehouse, and destroy all the smuggled goods."

Shinsou was shocked. He couldn't see Nakajima who was invisible as usual, so he looked at Kaneshiro.

"I've told him that I'm against it," said Kaneshiro grimly, "The North Koreans are sure to suspect that Japanese agents blew the warehouse up. Who else would do it? It will cause a lot of tension between the two countries. We should just concentrate on rescuing the abductees!"

"We can't just let the North Koreans get away with smuggling technology from Japan!" said Nakajima, sounding angry, "do you know how many missiles they've been firing at us?"

Kaneshiro was looking equally angry. He shifted the position of his hands, so that he was touching the exterior of the ship. Shinsou had the impression that he sometimes subconsciously did this out of habit, to examine the contents of whatever he was touching. As he was doing it now, his expression changed.

"What is it?" asked Shinsou, concerned.

Kaneshiro didn't reply for a moment. He was silent, still holding his hands on the ship's prow, and concentrating.

"Nakajima," he said at last, "are you aware that your daughter is on board this ship?"

"What?" said Nakajima, slowly.

Shinsou's heart sank. _Yeonha_ , he thought. They had believed she should know better than to try returning to North Korea. She didn't trust them any more, and he guessed that she had probably come back to look for her mother, herself.

"I didn't feel her presence when I touched the ship earlier, before it sailed," said Kaneshiro, frowning, "She hadn't boarded the ship yet at that time, most probably. But she's here, now. She's hiding in one of the empty cabins, some distance away from all the other cabins that have been occupied."

Nakajima was silent; Shinsou knew that he was thinking.

"I brought the infra-red goggles along," added Kaneshiro, "I'll bring you to her. It won't be much use talking to her, but you have to try."

"I'll come along," said Shinsou, "I can brainwash her. It's dangerous for her to go back to North Korea. She's been missing for two weeks, already. I can make her stay on board, until the ship returns to Japan."

"No, Shinsou," said Kaneshiro, "Yeonha has been more hurt by discovering you've been deceiving her than anything else. If you're present it will be totally impossible to talk to her, and if you brainwash her, you'll destroy any chance of her ever trusting us again."

Shinsou wanted to argue that it was for her safety, but he recognised Kaneshiro's familiar resolute tone. As the other two went off, he turned and looked out to sea, at the now distinct smudge of land on the horizon, growing larger and clearer with every minute. There wasn't much time to talk to Yeonha now. They were approaching Wonsan, and he would have to join the other deckhands in preparing the ship for arrival.

.

.

As expected, Yeonha refused to speak to Nakajima. After about ten minutes both agents could see that it was no use, and left her. There were other important things they had to focus on, especially rescuing the abductees.

Nakajima had earlier entered the Chongryon officials' cabins and bugged all of them. He had also told Shinsou to brainwash three of them, and implanted tiny listening devices on their bodies. He now sat in a quiet part of the ship with the audio equipment, carefully monitoring all their conversations. As the Kirogi was coming into port, Kaneshiro came looking for Shinsou.

"Nakajima says that the officials will only get instructions for the prisoners tomorrow morning," he said quietly, "they're to be kept on board the ship tonight."

"All right," said Shinsou.

"I'll need you to brainwash the Captain into granting me shore leave tonight," added Kaneshiro, "Watanabe's coming on board as my minder, using a different disguise, and Nakajima's coming along too. I'm going to spend the night searching through the city centre for the warehouse, while Nakajima and Watanabe are going to the Supreme Leader's Family Palace."

"Family Palace?" said Shinsou, startled.

"Watanabe's going to try duplicating the Supreme Leader's limousine," explained Kaneshiro, "so that Hirano can use it while impersonating him. We don't know if he can duplicate something that large, but he's going to try. If he can't, we'll have to steal someone's car. You'll have to stay here, Shinsou, and keep an eye on the prisoners. Notify us if there's any change and Chongryon are suddenly given instructions to move them sooner."

Shinsou brainwashed Lazy Jang into covering whatever duties he had that night, and he stayed in his cabin listening to the Chongryon officials with the monitoring equipment. Time passed. Lazy Jang returned to the cabin, and Shinsou made him lie down and sleep.

It's fortunate I usually don't need much sleep, he thought. Even so, as the hours went by, he began to feel tired. He was trying not to nod off when the cabin door opened by itself. He quickly stood up.

He heard Nakajima say very softly, "Gather up the monitoring equipment, and come over to the empty cabin at the end of the corridor."

Shinsou did as he said, and when he entered the cabin, he heard Nakajima saying quietly in Korean, "Youngjae, Titus is with me. He called me on the phone earlier, and said that he needed to talk to you, and so I brought him on board."

"Titus-ssi?" said Shinsou, surprised.

"Youngjae-ssi," he heard the invisible Titus whisper, "I need your help. If you remember, there are some American prisoners being held here in North Korea. My contacts say they have found a way to free them. We've also found a way to get them out of the country, but for that I need your help."

"American prisoners?" said Shinsou, disappointed. He had been hoping that Titus had news of Park Soojin.

"Youngjae-ssi," whispered Titus, seeing his expression, "I know about Soojin's disappearance, and it has grieved me much. I have not heard from her. But if she appears at the last minute, I should be able to evacuate her out as well."

"Titus," said Shinsou urgently, "Yeonha is on board! She won't speak to us, but she may be willing to talk to you – "

"No, Youngjae," said Nakajima, very quietly, "before Kaneshiro left the ship, he touched its side, and told me that Yeonha is no longer on board. She's left the ship."

Shinsou's heart sank.

"I will do what I can to find her," Titus assured them, "and if I do, you may be sure that I will bring her out of the country to the U.S., and look after her."

"Thank you," said Nakajima.

"How do you plan to get the prisoners out?" asked Shinsou.

"This will take a while to explain, so please bear with me," said Titus, "There is a famous American basketballer whom the Supreme Leader admires, and who is visiting Wonsan now by the Leader's invitation. He is staying at Wonsan Hotel, and has agreed to allow his private jet to be used to smuggle the American missionaries out."

Shinsou was surprised.

"Tomorrow night the Supreme Leader is throwing a lavish dinner for the Basketballer, and a helicopter will bring him from Wonsan Hotel to the Family Palace," Titus continued, "The hotel has a helicopter landing pad on its rooftop. The dinner starts at six in the evening and the Basketballer will probably only return some time after midnight.

"After the Basketballer returns and disembarks from the chopper, he has given orders for some of his luggage to be carried on board the chopper, to be transferred to his private jet which is at Kalma Airport. He will be leaving for the U.S. around nine tomorrow morning, before the Air Festival starts.

"Some of the suitcases have airholes, and the missionaries will be hiding inside them until they reach the private jet. Because the Basketballer is the Supreme Leader's special guest, we don't expect the security personnel to check his luggage or his private jet. This means that if we manage to get Yeonha and Soojin to come along, they can easily conceal themselves in the helicopter by being invisible – and make me invisible as well. If they turn up, I plan to accompany them to the U.S. We should be able to make it on board the private jet without any problem. Kyungju-ssi can join us there in the U.S. in the future."

Shinsou found himself listening intently; he wondered if the scheme would work.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Youngjae-ssi," said Titus, "two of the baggage handlers at Kalma Airport have agreed to help us. They know which suitcases will be holding the missionaries, and they will handle those with care and place them on board the jet instead of in the cargo hold. I need you to come down to the baggage handling office at Kalma Airport later today and brainwash their supervisor into assigning them to be the ones to board the helicopter and handle the Basketballer's baggage tonight. If we get any other handlers, they will throw the baggage roughly around as most handlers do."

"I may be busy in the morning," said Shinsou, thinking about the prisoners, "but once I've settled my affairs, I'll contact you."

"Thank you, Youngjae-ssi," said Titus fervently, "Kyungju-ssi has my number."

.

.

Before escorting Titus off the ship, Nakajima told Shinsou to get some rest. The latter felt as if he had hardly fallen asleep, though, when he found Nakajima shaking him awake again. It was almost dawn.

Since Lazy Jang was also in the cabin, snoring, they went outside to the corridor to talk.

"I've just overheard the Chongryon officials saying that the prisoners will be moved in an hour's time to a deserted factory in a district of Wonsan called Sungri-dong," Nakajima whispered, "They'll only be transferred to the spy training camps in the mountainous regions tomorrow. I've called Watanabe; he'll be here in half an hour to get you off the ship, so you had better get some breakfast from the galley now."

Shinsou managed to speak briefly with Ryoko while eating in the side room.

"Nakajima spoke to me," she whispered, "I'm to join all of you this afternoon. The Wonsan Air Festival is taking place tomorrow, so there's a lot of merrymaking currently going on in the city. Some of the crew have bribed the Captain into letting them sneak off the ship without any minders this afternoon to have fun. There are thousands of North Koreans here now, brought in from other parts of the country, and also lots of foreign journalists and tourists as well, so it will be easy for the crew to get lost in the crowd and not be discovered. The Captain just said that everyone had better be back around midnight tonight."

Shinsou felt a pang in his heart. The Air Festival! Yeonha would probably have been excitedly watching it if misfortune hadn't befallen them.

"Is your beloved Lee going as well?" he asked sharply, "Make sure he doesn't tag along after you and interfere with us again! I told you how he followed you to Koryo Bar ... it'll be a disaster if he interferes with the rescue of the abductees!"

Ryoko gulped.

"He keeps asking me to go enjoy the festivities with him," she said, "but of course I can't, since I'll have to be with all of you. I'll shake him off somehow – Nakajima's meeting me when I leave the ship, and he should be able to get me invisibly away. Don't be mean to me, Shin – I mean, Youngjae. I'm terrified at what I'm going to have to do tonight!"

Shinsou knew that Watanabe would be coming soon, and that he had better keep watch near the gangway.

"You'll be fine tonight," he said brusquely, getting ready to leave but deciding that Ryoko had better be given some moral support for the critical operation, "you know you've already been practising with Makeover Girl."

"Yes, but – " she squeaked, her eyes wide. Shinsou, however, had already left.

.

.

Nakajima was standing invisibly by with Kaneshiro when Watanabe brought Shinsou off the ship. They then made their way to an alley nearby where they could talk. It was the same alley where Yeonha always used to make Shinsou invisible, and he tried not to think too much about her.

"All right, now listen," said Nakajima quietly, "A bus is going to arrive to pick up the prisoners and the Chongryon officials. There'll be guards present to keep the prisoners under control and make sure they don't escape. It'll be messy if all four of us try to stow away invisibly in the bus, so only I will be doing that. Watanabe brought his car along today, and Kaneshiro and Shinsou will accompany him to the factory."

"I already know where that is," said Watanabe, "it's the deserted Kumgang Engine Company factory in Sungri-dong that used to make engine pumps."

He had parked his car in a secluded corner some distance away. Nakajima invisibly brought them there, and then left them and went off to wait for the bus.

Watanabe had set up a surveillance camera near the ship as usual, and when he saw the bus arriving, he told the others that they would be moving soon.

"Good thing about the Air Festival," he said, "There are quite a number of cars in town now, and that will make it easier for us not to stand out if we follow the bus."

"Watanabe-san," said Shinsou, "did you manage to duplicate the Supreme Leader's limousine?"

Watanabe chortled.

"I somehow managed it," he said, "and we even managed to drive it out of the compound! It was the middle of the night, but the guards opened the gate because the windows are tinted and they thought the Supreme Leader was inside. It's a long car – a luxury Mercedes S600 Pullman Guard – but Nakajima made it invisible while we were driving, and we managed to hide it in another deserted factory near the one these abductees should be going to."

Kaneshiro was looking amused. He saw Shinsou looking at him, and knew what he wanted to ask.

"I found the warehouse as well, last night," he said.

"And mighty fast, too," said Watanabe grudgingly, "if you had been around from the beginning, it would have saved us a lot of trouble!"

"It's a skyscraper near Wonsan Hotel," Kaneshiro told Shinsou, "It looks unfinished from the outside, which is why neither Nakajima nor Watanabe thought of checking it out. But if you go inside, a lot of it has actually been completed. Someone with an Illusion Quirk must have done some work on the outside, to disguise it as a half-finished building.

"There was a sentry near the entrance of the building," he added, "but we spotted him with the infra-red goggles and managed to bypass him."

"The damn warehouse is on the thirty-third storey," complained Watanabe, "and of course we could only take the stairs, because even if the elevators had been built, there's no electricity!"

"So you actually went in, and saw the smuggled goods?" asked Shinsou, intrigued.

"There are guards stationed there, keeping an eye on the goods," said Kaneshiro, "I could tell by feeling the walls. But I could roughly tell what was there, by touching the walls – missile parts, electronic goods, diving valves, anti-aircraft missile batteries, the engine of a fighter jet, large stashes of cash in yen and US dollars, and also lots of explosives."

Shinsou was listening, amazed, when Watanabe suddenly interrupted. "All right, the prisoners have boarded the bus, and it's moving off. Let's go!"

He started the car, and turning out onto the road, followed the bus at a discreet distance. As they left the main city area, the number of cars on the road thinned considerably, and Watanabe decided not to follow the bus any more. He took another alternative route to the factory instead, and parked some distance from it.

They waited for Nakajima. After a few minutes, Kaneshiro asked Watanabe if he had managed to assemble the materials needed for constructing pipe bombs.

"Yes," said Watanabe, "they're in here." He nodded at the building they were parked next to. "This is the deserted factory that I mentioned earlier. We can assemble the bombs here, this afternoon."

Shinsou was looking at Kaneshiro in surprise. Seeing his expression, Kaneshiro shrugged.

"I may not agree with Nakajima," he said, "but he's our leader, and whatever decision he makes, I will go with."

"So we'll be doing it tonight?" said Shinsou, his heart sinking, "blowing up the warehouse?"

"Yes," said Kaneshiro, "we'll send Hirano off with the prisoners first, and then make our way to the city centre."

After what seemed like a long time, one of the car doors opened by itself, and Nakajima got in and materialised.

"They've drugged the prisoners," he said soberly, "so that they don't need to watch them too much. They've locked them in one of the factory rooms."

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on them," said Watanabe, "in case they suddenly decide to bring the prisoners elsewhere. I'll work on the pipe bombs at the same time."

"All right," said Nakajima, "I've bugged the place and put a couple of surveillance cameras up. You can monitor them remotely."

"What are the rest of us going to do?" asked Shinsou.

"I know Senpai wants to check Soojin's apartment," said Watanabe with certainty, "even though I checked it yesterday and bribed the _inminban_ leader for any new information, of which she said there wasn't any."

"Yeonha might be there, now," Nakajima pointed out, taking a pair of infrared goggles out.

Kaneshiro drove them to Park Soojin's apartment. He parked a discreet distance away, in a secluded corner, and Nakajima promptly vanished.

They waited. After a few minutes Shinsou said, "What are we doing after this?"

"We're going to meet Titus at the airport and settle those baggage handlers," said Kaneshiro, "and then we're going to Unit 963's compound."

"Unit 963?" said Shinsou, blankly.

"The Supreme Guard Command," said Kaneshiro, "it's the personal bodyguard force that protects the Supreme Leader. We'll need a few bodyguards to accompany Hirano tonight, and there should be quite a number staying near the Family Palace now, since the Supreme Leader is in town. We'll need to find out how many there are, and see if you can brainwash some of them into helping us."

Nakajima returned just a few minutes later. He had been gone such a short time that Shinsou knew there couldn't have been anyone in the apartment.

"No one was there," Nakajima said, "All of Yeonha's things are still there. As are Soojin's."

"What about Yeonha's jacket?" asked Shinsou, although he doubted that Nakajima would have noticed its presence or absence. But he surprised Shinsou by saying, "It wasn't there. I looked for it, because she kept going on and on about how she'd left it behind, and asked me to get it for her the next time I came. But I couldn't find it."

There was a brief silence.

"She could well have been there, then," said Kaneshiro, "and taken the jacket."

"Perhaps," said Nakajima, his face impassive.

There was another silence while they looked at each other, and then Nakajima said resignedly, "Well, fate will dictate whatever happens. Let's settle those things we can do first, before we think about those that we can't do anything about."

"Let's go," said Kaneshiro quietly, glancing at the other two. Then he started the car, and they headed back to the city centre, and toward Kalma Airport.


	20. The Ambush

**20 THE AMBUSH**

Groups of people could be seen strolling along the streets as Kaneshiro drove them to Kalma. They passed Wonsan's central square, where a rehearsal for a mass dance was taking place. It was a spectacular sight, consisting of thousands of dancers in brightly coloured attire, moving in perfect unison to Korean music.

Shinsou noticed that the locals weren't waiting until the next day – when the Air Festival commenced – to start making some extra money. Makeshift stalls had been set up along the road, selling a variety of food and drinks, local beers, clothing, souvenirs, and models of Air Koryo and KPAAF (Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force) aircraft. Foreign tourists could be seen patronising the stalls, dogged by their minders, with crowds of locals watching with interest, occasionally clapping and cheering when a large purchase was made.

As Shinsou took in the festive atmosphere, he wondered where Yeonha was. If fate had proceeded in a different direction, he would probably have been with her now, mingling with the crowds and taking in all the various sights. He noticed Kaneshiro looking at him in the rear view mirror.

"She returned to get the jacket," he said quietly, "that means she still cares."

Shinsou glanced at Nakajima, but the latter seemed lost in thought, and was looking out of the window.

As they approached the airport, they saw skydivers in the sky, practising for the show the following day. Kaneshiro presently parked the car some distance from the terminal, and they stood for a while, watching. Several helicopters came out, once the skydivers had vanished, followed by a series of fighter jets, which Kaneshiro identified as MiG-29s.

Once the MiG-29s had flown off, a Sukhoi-25 appeared, but Nakajima said that Titus had just messaged him to say that he had arrived.

"You can continue watching once we've settled that roster," he said firmly, leading a reluctant Kaneshiro, who was almost as fond of aircraft as Yeonha, toward the glass-fronted terminal.

The interior of the terminal presented a marked difference from the previous time Shinsou had been there. It was crowded now, as much with local North Koreans curious to have a look at the airport, as with arriving passengers.

"Six Air Koryo flights arriving from Pyongyang today," commented Kaneshiro, looking at the display.

"That's probably as many as this place has seen in the last six months," replied Nakajima.

Titus was waiting for them near the baggage handling office.

"We'll have to somehow get hold of the supervisor in charge of the baggage handlers," he said, nervously.

Nakajima looked nonplussed. "You mean, you don't know who he is?"

"No," said Titus apologetically, "I thought that we could get Young-chul or his brother – the handlers who've agreed to help us – to bring us to him, but I think they're busy now unloading baggage from an aircraft."

Kaneshiro said swiftly, "It doesn't matter. Youngjae, just brainwash the next employee you see coming out of the office. We can find out everything from him."

Titus gave a piece of paper with the names of the baggage handlers to Shinsou. They dispersed, so as not to make it too obvious that they were hanging around near the baggage office. Shinsou hung around within view of the office entrance, pretending to watch people go past.

The arrival hall was nearby, and there was a small crowd of foreign journalists standing around, either waiting for their colleagues to emerge from the customs area, or trying to discreetly take photos of VIPs who were occasionally coming out of the VIP lounge.

Shinsou saw two journalists recognise each other and shake hands, and presently found himself eavesdropping on their conversation, which was in English. The first journalist had just come out from the customs area, having landed on an Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang, while the other had apparently arrived the previous night, but was now waiting for a colleague on the same Pyongyang flight.

"It's your first time here, isn't it?" the second journalist was saying, "Stick around, we can go to the hotel together ... I'm just waiting for James; he should've been on the same flight as you."

"Ah, he's probably stuck in customs, then," said the first journalist, "it took me almost an hour to get through ... they checked everything."

"Well, no matter, while waiting we can watch the VIPs arrive. I've heard that the Chief of Air Force and the Bowibu Chief should be arriving around this time."

"All right. What did you do this morning, then?"

"They gave us a tour of the city centre. Wonsan Hotel's impressive, but it's the only thing that's been completed so far. It remains to be seen if they can complete all those other projects."

"Is that where we're staying?"

"No, they've put us journalists up at Kalma Hotel, just a stone's throw from here. They've housed nearly all the media folk there. The hotel even has a press briefing room."

There was a pause, as a slight commotion made them turn and look. A grim-faced man was walking past, trailed by a small entourage of junior officers. He was dressed in the olive-green uniform worn by Party Cadres, and decorated with numerous orders. Shinsou didn't know who he was, but the journalists enlightened him soon enough.

"Ri Wonhong," said the second journalist knowledgeably, "the Bowibu Chief, you know, the Head of the State Security Department. It runs all the prison camps in North Korea."

"I've heard of it," said the first journalist slowly, "the fearsome secret police. So, he's the Chief?"

"Yeah … but there are rumours going around that he's fallen out of favour … there'll probably be a purge soon, Supreme Leader's just waiting for an excuse to remove him."

At this moment, the second journalist's colleague finally emerged from the customs, and joined them. After introductions were made, they went off together, followed by their minders, who had been standing nearby.

Shinsou, who had been distracted by the journalists' conversation, suddenly noticed a man coming out of the baggage handlers' office and making his way over to a nearby café. He unhurriedly made his way over. The man had begun walking back to the office, a cup of coffee in his hand, when Shinsou stopped him and managed to brainwash him.

The man, whose name was Park, said that the person in charge of the baggage handlers' roster was called Kim Dong-hyun, and that he was currently in his office.

Shinsou brought several envelopes out, under the pretext of delivering mail to Kim Dong-hyun. He got Park to bring him to Kim, brainwashed the latter, and then made him alter the handlers' roster to include those on Titus' list for the helicopter flight that night.

.

.

They took their leave of Titus and left the airport for Songdowon, where the Supreme Leader's Family Palace was.

Kaneshiro parked the car some distance from the compound entrance, and Nakajima then made all of them invisible. They entered the compound in the same way Shinsou had with Yeonha, by waiting for the gates to open when a car entered. Kaneshiro, placing his hands on the wall of the mansion, said softly, "The Guards' compound is at the other end of the building. There are five Guards there now – probably not on duty at the moment. There must be more with the Supreme Leader, who's out – I don't feel his presence here."

They made their way to the Guards' compound, and then Shinsou put on a cleaner's uniform which Watanabe had obtained for him, and wielding a mop and bucket they had brought along, managed to enter and pretend he was going to clean the compound, and brainwashed all the guards.

When questioned, the Guards said that there were thirteen of them in all, but that the other eight had accompanied the Supreme Leader to Masikryong Resort, and would only return the following morning in time for the Air Festival.

"These five will have to do, then, for tonight," said Nakajima, "It's too early to bring them with us now. Shinsou, ask them what time they retire for the night."

The answer was ten o' clock. Shinsou ordered them to continue with their activities as they usually did, but to lie awake in bed that night instead of going to sleep.

"We'll come back and get them later," said Kaneshiro, "hopefully nothing will have woken them from their brainwashed state."

They then drove back to the ship and collected Ryoko. Nakajima made her invisible first, to make sure that Lee didn't follow them. They then returned to the factory, where Shinsou began helping Watanabe with the pipe bombs, while Nakajima and Kaneshiro drilled Ryoko on what she had to do.

"Stop looking so frightened," said Nakajima after a while, "The Supreme Leader never looks frightened. Haven't you been practising this for the past few months?"

Ryoko gulped. She seemed to have forgotten everything she had learned with Makeover Girl.

"Relax," said Kaneshiro encouragingly, "Remember, everyone looks up to the Supreme Leader! And you won't have to talk much, because Nakajima will be your spokesman. You just need to stand by, and nod and gesture imperiously."

Watanabe had duplicated quite an assortment of uniforms throughout his stay in North Korea. He now managed to find Party Cadre uniforms for Kaneshiro and Nakajima, and a driver's uniform for Shinsou.

They went through what they were going to do. At ten, they would collect the Guards from the Family Palace. Shinsou would have to brainwash the sentries at the main gate, for at that hour they couldn't wait for the gates to open when an authorised car went in.

They would then go to the Kumgang factory where the prisoners were being held. Nakajima had invisibly picked the pockets of the Chongryon officials during the ship journey and gotten hold of their mobile phones, and found out what their phone numbers were. He knew all the names of the Chongryon officials, and had been listening in on their conversations on the phone with the North Korean authorities, so he knew how to impersonate them.

He would call the Chongryon leader and announce that there was a change of plan – the Supreme Leader was angered by their poor choice of abductees, being of the opinion that people picked up randomly off the streets would not teach North Korean spies well; and the Leader wanted them sent back to Japan. He was coming to the factory himself to oversee the operation.

They would then sweep up in front of the factory in the limousine. Nakajima would pose as the Supreme Leader's spokesman, and order the abductees to be loaded onto their bus and brought back to the Kirogi. All Ryoko had to do was stand by and looked disapproving. The brainwashed Guards were to stand around and make it appear as if she had a reasonable entourage.

Shinsou, who was posing as the limousine driver, would then brainwash all the Chongryon officials and the abductees, so that it would be easier to control them. They would then drive to the port. Kaneshiro and Watanabe, dressed as party cadres, would accompany the abductees and Chongryon officials on the bus, to keep an eye on them.

.

.

Amazingly, everything went off without a hitch that evening. The Chongryon officials were so terrified by the presence of the Supreme Leader that they obeyed everything without question. Once they had reached the port and the Kirogi, Captain Jang had also fearfully ordered the prisoners to be brought back to their cabins again, while Ryoko stood by, valiantly smoking Magnetron's cigarettes (Makeover Girl had forced her to learn how to, because the Supreme Leader was a heavy smoker) and looking grim-faced.

"All right, Hirano," said Nakajima, once everything had been settled and Shinsou had instructed everyone he had brainwashed to obey Ryoko's every command, "The captain has asked that we wait a few hours until the rest of the crew have returned, which is convenient - the ship has an excuse not to sail until we come back from the warehouse. You'll hang around here with your Guards until we come back. Remember, it's absolutely vital to get these abductees back home, so if we don't come back in three hours, order the ship to set sail without us."

"Leave without you?" squeaked Ryoko, looking shocked.

"Yes, yes," said Nakajima impatiently, "delays can always happen. Don't worry about us. Remember, you'll have to leave the ship as the Supreme Leader and then quickly change back to your cook's disguise and board the ship again. Tell the Guards to drive the limousine back to the factory and hide it there, and to then return to the Family Palace."

"Yes, Nakajima-san," Ryoko whispered. Shinsou could tell from the expression on her face that she felt as if they were deserting her.

"And, Hirano," said Nakajima, glaring at her balefully, "if I find out that you accidentally said 'miaow' even once after we've left, I will personally wring your neck!"

Ryoko looked terrified.

"Don't worry, Hirano," said Kaneshiro reassuringly, "You could grunt like a pig, roll around on the floor, jump up and down laughing, and everyone will watch you respectfully, because you're the Supreme Leader. So, relax!"

Ryoko looked as if she wanted to cry.

"Thank you, Kaneshiro-san," she whispered.

Shinsou stopped in front of her.

"Good luck, Ryoko," he said quietly, "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Ryoko looked at him, her face emotional.

"You'll come back, won't you?" she whispered anxiously.

"Of course we will," said Shinsou.

.

.

They used the abductees' bus to get back to the factory, where they changed out of the Cadre and driver's uniforms and collected the pipe bombs. They then made their way in Watanabe's car to the city centre. It was past midnight by then, but there were still a fair number of people on the streets near Wonsan Hotel. Fortunately, although it was near the hotel, the roads around the building where the warehouse was located were more sparsely populated, and they found a deserted alley where Nakajima was able to make them invisible.

They got past the sentry at the entrance by scaling the building and entering it through the second floor. Then came the tedious climb, in darkness, up the stairs to the thirty-third storey.

"On the tenth floor the stairs end and we have to enter the building," said Kaneshiro quietly, "we'll have to cross a large foyer to another staircase to continue up to the thirty-third."

He was wearing the infrared goggles, so that he would be able to see if anyone was skulking in the darkness. They had hardly reached the tenth floor and moved a few metres into the foyer, when he halted abruptly.

"There are people here!" he whispered sharply.

Nakajima was still making them invisible, so they retreated a few paces, and then Nakajima said quietly, "Hide the pipe bombs in a corner of the stairs landing, and then we'll see whether we can't go closer and find out who those people are."

On the landing, Kaneshiro placed his hands on the wall to see who was in the foyer.

"Nakajima," he said warningly, "It's Choe Yong-gon, together with nine of his drug dealer accomplices."

Nakajima drew his breath in sharply.

Before they could do anything else, they heard Choe's voice, loud and clear.

"Come out, Nakajima! We saw you just now. You're not the only one using infrared goggles, you know!"

Nakajima abruptly made all of them visible again.

"Let's go," he said, grimly.

They went back into the foyer, leaving the pipe bombs on the landing. Choe and his men had come forward, and were standing in a line facing them. They had brought lamps with them, which illuminated the two groups of people in the darkness.

"You were clever enough to avoid my sentry at the entrance, Nakajima," said Choe smugly, "but when I first heard you'd come on the Kirogi, I knew right away what you'd come to North Korea for. I became even more careful when Baek reported a story where it sounded as if something unusual had happened in Koryo Bar on the night it was burnt to ground. I've been having men watching the building from a distance with infrared goggles, in case you turned up. And here you are!"

"Ten against four, Choe?" said Nakajima coldly, "That's hardly fair, is it?"

Choe smirked.

"I don't play fair, Nakajima," he said, "I play to win." He smiled unpleasantly. "Ah … and there is someone else who told me that you would be coming … your daughter, of course. How do you like that, Nakajima? Betrayed by your own flesh and blood!"

"Nonsense!" said Nakajima curtly, "She didn't know of any of our plans!"

"Are you sure?" purred Choe. "Doesn't she have the power of invisibility, like you? You must have planned tonight's activities at length. How do you know she wasn't listening, unseen, at some point?"

"Don't listen to him, Nakajima," said Kaneshiro swiftly, "He's lying. He's trying to throw you off-balance."

Shinsou looked from Choe to Kaneshiro to Nakajima. Was Kaneshiro right, or was he just trying to make Nakajima stay calm? At what point had Nakajima come up with the idea of blowing up the warehouse? Could Yeonha have overheard and really betrayed them?

"We can ask the informer, herself," sneered Choe, "I left her waiting nearby. Let's bring her here, now." Something glowed in front of them, and presently Yeonha materialised, looking tense. There was a gun in her hand.

"Why, Yeonha-ya," said Choe smoothly, "Look who I've found here! You now have the chance to avenge your mother. I've told her the truth, Nakajima," – he flicked a smug glance at Nakajima – "How you've been plotting revenge for years to get back at Soojin for rejecting you and choosing to come to North Korea with me instead. You came here to seduce her away from me, and punish her at the end of all of it by killing her, didn't you? She died at your hands, didn't she? And you even brought your apprentice along to seduce Soojin's daughter, as well! It wasn't enough to punish the mother alone, was it?"

"He's lying, Yeonha," said Nakajima, evenly.

Yeonha was looking from Choe to Nakajima to Shinsou. She looked exhausted, and near the end of her tether. She was obviously totally confused, not knowing where her mother was, or who to trust or believe, any more.

"You overheard us talking in Japan, Yeonha," said Shinsou quietly, "Abeonim didn't do anything to your mother. Didn't you hear us wondering where your mother was? Samchon was still looking for her – "

"But … but that was you and your colleagues wondering," stammered Yeonha, her voice trembling, "not abeonim. Abeonim could have killed my mother and not told you. He lied to me that she was all right – "

"Yeonha!" said Nakajima. There was untold pain in his eyes, "Do you really think I would hurt your mother?"

Yeonha looked at her father, at the expression in his eyes, and as they looked at each other, Shinsou felt something pass between them. _She knows_ , thought Shinsou, s _he's realised that he's her father._

"I – I don't know what to believe any more," Yeonha whispered. There was a slightly pleading tone in her voice, "Why did you lie to me that Eomma was all right? Why did you tell me you were Zainichi Koreans?"

"I'll tell you why," said Nakajima, looking intently at her, but Choe, seeing that he was about to reveal everything, swiftly interrupted.

"We'll fight now, Nakajima!" he said sharply, "It's our grand finale! I shall spar with you. No Quirks! We'll finish that fight that I should have won, so many years ago. Yeonha will settle your so-called son. I doubt she has any more feelings for him now that she knows the truth."

He glanced at his accomplices. "Settle the other two," he said briefly.

Nakajima looked sharply at Kaneshiro and Watanabe, but Kaneshiro said calmly, "Settle your fights, Nakajima. Watanabe and I can handle these fellows, easily." Without further ado, he suddenly launched himself at the men, followed by Watanabe. Choe at the same time lunged at Nakajima.

Shinsou found himself in the middle of the hall with Yeonha. The group of men were fighting at one end, and Nakajima and Choe were at the other end. Shinsou felt he should be helping Kaneshiro, but Yeonha was standing in front of him. He was startled when she slowly lifted the gun with both hands, and pointed it at him.

"You're not his son, are you?" she said, her voice trembling, "it was a lie."

There was a pause, and then Shinsou, eyeing the gun warily, said, "It was."

" _Why did you lie to me_?" she whispered. She sounded so hurt that Shinsou felt a pang in his heart.

"Nakajima – that is, Han Kyung-ju, asked me to," he said, "He didn't want you to think he was like those other men who visited your mother. He thought that if he turned up as an old family friend with his son, you would see him differently."

She was still pointing the gun at him, but her hands were trembling.

"I never lied to you except about who I was," said Shinsou evenly, looking directly at her, "I did it because Nakajima asked me to. He's my boss. My main aim in coming to Wonsan was because of the Kirogi. We were supposed to find out if the North Koreans were smuggling arms and technology out of Japan. I would never intentionally hurt you. I'm not brainwashing you now, am I? I could have done it by now, but I haven't."

Yeonha stood like a statue, staring at him. After what seemed like a long time, she slowly lowered the gun.

"You know I wouldn't be able to shoot you," she said softly, "after all we did together … after …"

At this moment, a sharp thud sounded nearby, and they both turned to look. Nakajima had Choe on the ground.

"We agreed on three rounds, Choe," he said coldly, "I've won. Concede defeat!"

Choe didn't reply, but he suddenly brought out a gun. Before anyone could react, there was a sharp report, and Nakajima went staggering back. There was a look of disbelief on his face, and then he slowly slumped to the ground, and lay still.

"No!" screamed Yeonha. She stared at Choe, wild-eyed.

Shinsou had leapt forward, in front of Choe.

"You're a coward, Choe Yong-gon!" he said, furiously.

"You stupid young fool," sneered Choe, getting to his feet; but then his face went blank.

"Choe Yong-gon!" said Shinsou angrily, "Where is Park Soojin?"

"She's dead," said Choe, "I killed her."

Yeonha's eyes widened. She stared at the brainwashed Choe in disbelief.

"What?" she whispered.

Shinsou looked at Nakajima, and knew that there was no time to lose. He turned to Yeonha.

"Yeonha!" he said urgently, "Listen to me! Han Kyung-ju is your father!"

Yeonha gazed at him, wide-eyed.

"Your mother wanted your father to marry her, back in Japan," said Shinsou, the words tumbling out, "but he stalled on the issue because he was a spy and couldn't marry a foreigner. Your mother didn't know he was a spy, and thought he wasn't serious about her. Choe persuaded her to follow him to North Korea and promised her a good life. She left without telling Nakajima, and he didn't know she was pregnant with you at the time. He thought your mother had decided to choose Choe over him, and he said he only found out that you existed a few years ago. That was when he decided to come to Wonsan to look for you and your mother."

He turned to Choe. "Is this true?"

"It is," said Choe.

Yeonha was looking at Shinsou, her eyes large. Then she looked at Nakajima, and going swiftly over to him, knelt down next to him.

"Appa?" she said, softly.

Nakajima opened his eyes.

"My dearest Yeonha," he whispered, "you don't know how long I've waited to hear you call me that."

Yeonha could see that he was dying. She reached out, and took his hands in hers.

"Appa," she cried softly, "I'm sorry, sorry about everything! I shouldn't have run away, I should have stayed in Tokyo …"

"It's Appa's fault, Yeonha," said Nakajima faintly, "I should have told you the truth from the beginning. But I was afraid you might reject me, I was afraid of losing you."

Yeonha was beginning to weep.

"Yeonha, I owe you and your mother an apology," whispered Nakajima, "I should have married your mother long ago and brought the both of you to America. Instead you both ended up here with such a difficult life. I failed in my duty to you …"

"It doesn't matter now," sobbed Yeonha, "you have to get better. Youngjae," she turned and looked at Shinsou, "we have to find a doctor for him …"

She turned back to look at Nakajima. He was smiling slightly.

"You've made me very happy, Yeonha," he whispered, "The happiest week of my life was the one we spent in Tohoku. Don't stay here in North Korea. Go to America. Shinsou …" He turned his head with an effort, looking for his trainee.

"Nakajima-san – " said Shinsou, wondering whether to go and look for help; but Nakajima shook his head slightly.

"Titus," he said briefly. He was losing energy, and was beginning to have difficulty speaking.

Shinsou knelt down next to Nakajima, and spoke quietly. "I'll bring her to Wonsan Hotel to meet him. I promise you."

"Do that," agreed Nakajima, "The last thing you can do for me. Thank you, Shinsou – "

"Appa," whispered Yeonha, beginning to look rather desperate, "don't leave me!"

"Yeonha, my beautiful daughter," said Nakajima tenderly, "Appa has to go join Eomma now. Don't cry. Promise me you'll take care of yourself. Have a wonderful life, better than what I could have given you. Shinsou … don't let me down."

"I won't," said Shinsou.

Yeonha was beginning to cry again.

"No, no," she sobbed, but Nakajima suddenly went still. His eyes were still staring at her, but they could no longer see.

Yeonha went rigid, staring at the lifeless form of her father. Her face was as white as a sheet. For about ten seconds, she was still, as if she had turned to stone. Then, trembling, she slowly stood up.

She had an almost deranged look in her eyes. Shinsou, concerned that she was losing her mind, came forward, but before he could say or do anything, she suddenly turned, and hurled herself at Choe in a fury.

Choe staggered back, and woke from his brainwashed state.

"You killed my father!" Yeonha shrieked, "You killed my mother too!" There was a mad light in her eyes, and she raised her hands and pointed something invisible at Choe. Shinsou realised that it was the gun.

"Yeonha, no!" Shinsou darted forward, but he was too late. There were three loud reports before he managed to grab her and pull her back. The gun fell from her hand, and became visible again.

Choe was staring at Yeonha, the blood pouring out from his chest. There was a look of shock on his face as he realised that his arch-enemy's daughter had just shot him. Then he fell to the ground, and did not move again.

Shinsou suddenly became aware that Kaneshiro and Watanabe had hurried over. He glanced at the other end of the foyer. The drug dealers had all been overcome, and the two agents had gagged and bound them securely.

There was a sudden clinking noise coming from the direction of the stairs. Shinsou, turning to look, saw a shadow skulking near the landing. Before anyone knew what was happening, there were several loud reports, and Watanabe suddenly collapsed on the ground. Shinsou saw Kaneshiro, always fast, shoot forward with lightning speed and push Yeonha out of the way. He saw his supervisor flinch with the impact as he took the bullets instead, and the grimace on his face as he felt the pain.

Quicker than thought, Shinsou snatched up Yeonha's gun which had fallen to the floor, and fired several rapid shots at the gunman. The intruder gave a sharp cry and then fell down, dead.

Shinsou lowered the gun. He recognised the gunman; it was the sentry who had been at the ground floor entrance. He must have heard the sounds of fighting and gunshots on the tenth floor, and had come upstairs to see what was happening.

Yeonha was making her way over to where Watanabe was lying. Shinsou took one look at him and knew that he was dead.

"No," he thought, his heart sinking. First Nakajima, now Watanabe … he turned to look at Kaneshiro.

His supervisor was lying on the ground, his eyes closed, blood oozing out from his back in a bright red puddle. Shinsou knelt next to him.

"Kaneshiro-san," he whispered.

Kaneshiro slowly opened his eyes.

"I'll go and get medical help," said Shinsou urgently, "I can brainwash a doctor to come – hold on till I come back!"

"No," whispered Kaneshiro. His face was pale with pain, and it seemed to take him some effort to speak. "There's no need. Take my whip, Shinsou. I won't need it any more."

His whip lay in his right hand, and he made a slight movement, pushing it toward Shinsou.

Shinsou stared at the whip, and began to slowly feel panic rising within him. Nakajima was gone, and so was Watanabe. He couldn't, simply couldn't, lose Kaneshiro as well.

"Kaneshiro-san – "

"Shinsou, listen to me," said Kaneshiro quietly, "I'm not going to make it. You're the only one left now. You'll have to complete the mission, blow up the warehouse. Destroy all the technology that the North Koreans stole from us."

"No!" said Shinsou desperately, refusing to believe what he was hearing, "Kaneshiro-san, you can't die – "

"You will blow up the warehouse," said Kaneshiro, in that resolute tone that Shinsou had come to know so well, "and not only will you do that, but you will do it in such a way that the North Koreans will think that they did it themselves, and not Japanese agents."

Shinsou stared at him. Even blowing up the warehouse, which was heavily guarded, all by himself was going to be a difficult feat. But to make the North Koreans think that they had done it themselves –

"But … how?" he said, "It's impossible!"

"You will find a way," Kaneshiro whispered. "You can do it, Shinsou. I believe in you. Do it for me. Don't let me down."

"Kaneshiro-san," said Shinsou urgently, "I'll try - but you can't go now, not so soon! You were supposed to be there, when I … when …"

Kaneshiro looked up at him, and amazingly, smiled. It seemed as if his disguise melted away, and Shinsou saw him as he had been, handsome, beautiful even, that first time they had met in the Directorate.

"You will do this, and even more remarkable things," Kaneshiro said. His voice was calm, and he no longer looked as if he was in pain. "I saw it when I first met you. Fly high and higher, Shinsou. Go far and farther. Continue to make me proud." He looked up at Shinsou for a few moments longer, but then closed his eyes, and did not speak again.

" _No_ ," whispered Shinsou, fiercely. He leaned forward, and began shaking Kaneshiro. "No, no, _no_ , _I won't accept this!_ – "

"Youngjae-oppa," Yeonha had come over, her face streaked with tears. She gently pulled Shinsou away, "Don't. Don't … he's gone, Youngjae … "

Shinsou threw one wild look at Kaneshiro's still form, and felt near despair. They were all gone … Nakajima, Watanabe, Kaneshiro. The entire team, decimated in less than an hour. He was the only one left. It couldn't be happening.

He knew that he had to pull himself together, think clearly, think of a plan, act … conceal the bodies here, bring the pipe bombs to the warehouse, bring Yeonha to the hotel so that she could leave with Titus ...

But as he looked at Kaneshiro, all he could think of was all the countless hours of training they had gone through together, all the talks they'd had, all the times his supervisor had given him a small nudge here and there when he had needed it, without making it obvious, or understood how he had felt, and said something that set him at ease. Shinsou had never thanked him for any of it, and now it was too late.

He had not realised until then what Kaneshiro meant to him, the only person in the world who had been able to look into his heart and see what he was worth. He knew that there was no time to lose, and that he had to carry on now that the others were no longer there. But he found that he couldn't move. He felt a fury of despair surge through him, and it seemed as if the pain in his heart would overwhelm him. He knelt beside the body of his former mentor, and wept.


	21. The Warehouse

**21 THE WAREHOUSE**

The minutes ticked past as Shinsou knelt beside Kaneshiro's body. He was aware that Yeonha was next to him, and presently he managed to compose himself. He knew that she must be feeling even more devastated than him, for she had just lost practically everyone in the world whom she cared for – not only her parents but Watanabe as well, who had been like an uncle to her since childhood.

He stood up and looked around at the bodies lying on the floor. How could this have happened, he asked himself. Could the blame fall on Nakajima, who had become involved in his personal affairs during the assignment? But whether or not Nakajima had come to Wonsan, Choe Yong-gon would still have been the one running the smuggling operation. If Imamura had been the one tasked with this mission instead, would he have been able to detect the smuggled goods and find the warehouse? Wouldn't he have encountered Choe here tonight, as well? Might not Choe, who had a gun and little restraint in using it, have killed off Imamura's entire team as well?

Could we have been more vigilant, Shinsou asked himself, glancing at the gunman he had killed. They had let their guard down for just a few seconds, and it had cost them Kaneshiro and Watanabe's lives. Why hadn't they overcome and bound that sentry up instead of bypassing him? But it was easy to ask such questions, in hindsight. Besides, they had left the sentry untouched because if he had been missing, any of the smuggling team coming to the building would have become suspicious immediately.

 _I should have brainwashed Choe at the beginning_ , Shinsou said to himself, _and made him call his men off_. Perhaps Imamura might not have chosen to blow up the warehouse. Was Nakajima wrong to have wanted to do that? And yet Shinsou could hardly blame him for wanting to prevent the North Koreans from using any more of Japan's technology.

As he looked at Nakajima lying on the ground, he thought of Park Soojin, and felt a great sadness for her. She must have found life in North Korea intolerable because, unlike the locals, she had come from Japan and knew how life could be better, elsewhere. She had looked happy that morning when she and Nakajima had returned to the apartment, just after Titus had married them. How short-lived that happiness had been! And now there was no more hope of redemption for her.

In the dim light, Shinsou could see Yeonha looking at him.

"I'll help you, Youngjae," she said resolutely, "whatever you have to do, now. I can make you invisible. This was my father's mission too, and I'll help you complete it for him."

Shinsou didn't speak, but put a hand on her shoulder and nodded soberly. He felt as if a great load was weighing on him, and he was grateful that she was there.

He saw the infra red goggles that Kaneshiro had been using lying on the floor, and picked them up. He then looked at Yeonha.

"How did you end up with Choe Yong-gon?" he asked.

"He placed a surveillance camera in our apartment so that he would know if I returned," she answered, "He warped in shortly after I came back, and told me that lie about Appa and Eomma. Then he warped me to a room in Wonsan Hotel, where he was staying. He said I couldn't stay at the apartment, the _inminban_ leader might find out and report me because I had been missing for too long already."

"Did you know about our mission here?" asked Shinsou abruptly, "what we were supposed to do, tonight?"

"No," said Yeonha, wide-eyed.

Shinsou felt a sense of relief. So Choe had been lying, and Yeonha hadn't betrayed them after all.

"Your father wanted to blow up the smuggled goods, to prevent the North Koreans from using any more of our technology," he explained, "The goods are in this building. We'll have to bring the pipe bombs on the stairs landing up to the thirty-third floor. But there are guards up there whom we'll have to get rid of, first."

After wandering around the perimeter of the foyer, they located the second staircase, and continued up to the thirty-third floor. Nakajima had been using a length of rope to make the group invisible, and Yeonha now took it and looped it around Shinsou's waist. She would have liked to have held his hand instead to make him invisible, but they would probably need the use of both their hands for the task ahead.

The smuggled goods were in a vast hall which was in almost pitch blackness. Shinsou, entering the hall invisibly with Yeonha, managed to pick out the guards with the infrared goggles. As Kaneshiro had mentioned to them earlier, there were twenty of them, skulking silently in the darkness, keeping watch over the stash.

He and Yeonha waited invisibly and patiently until one of the guards wandered out of the hall, perhaps for a brief rest break. They then crept up behind him, and Shinsou knocked him unconscious.

They dragged him to the stairs landing and bound him, and blindfolded him as well. Shinsou then tried to revive him, and brainwashed him when he woke up.

"Who are those other guards with you in the hall?" he asked, "Who employed all of you?"

"We are mostly in the drug smuggling business," said the man, "Choe Yong-gon is paying us a generous sum to guard the goods here."

"Is there a leader among all of you in this group?" asked Shinsou.

"Yes," said the man.

"Go in and call him out," ordered Shinsou, "tell him that a messenger has arrived with important instructions from Choe."

He unbound the man and allowed him to return to the hall. Presently, the man returned with the leader, a tall, hulking individual.

Shinsou brainwashed the leader too, and then said, "Order all your men to come out here."

When all the men had come out, he looked at them and said, "I will need you to tell me your names one by one, so that I know I'm giving the instructions to the correct people."

After he had brainwashed all the men, he made them walk down to the ground floor in small groups, so that Yeonha would find it easier to make them invisible. Nakajima and Kaneshiro had prepared a holding room for them in a deserted building down the road, and they closeted the men in there.

Shinsou then went back up to the tenth floor and brainwashed the men that Kaneshiro and Watanabe had defeated and bound, and led them down to the holding room as well, with Yeonha's help.

He wondered how Ryoko was faring. It was taking him a while to manage these drug dealers, and he would then have to somehow carry the bodies in the foyer up to the warehouse, and then set the timers for the bombs. After that he had to bring Yeonha to Wonsan Hotel to meet Titus. He would never make it back to the Kirogi on time, and it was going to have to set sail without him. He realised that he would not be going back to Japan in any case, for he had to somehow fulfil Kaneshiro's request to make the bombing of the warehouse appear as if the North Koreans themselves had done it, and he couldn't leave Wonsan without trying to figure out how to do that.

The thought occurred to him that his chances of surviving this whole episode were slim. Would he fail, and end up a Japanese spy caught on North Korean soil, and eventually be executed? He remembered Kanako Hoshide's fears of dying alone in a foreign land. But all these thoughts didn't alter anything, Shinsou told himself. He couldn't change things now, couldn't back out on his promise to Kaneshiro. He resolutely pushed all his doubts away.

He hoped that Ryoko, at least, would make it back to Niigata. Nakajima had received word from the Directorate that the issue of the abductees was becoming big news in Japan. The Directorate itself had kept quiet about the fact that it knew where the abductees were, so as not to jeopardise their rescue; but speculation was rife and because such abductions had taken place in the past, many of the newspapers in Japan were suggesting that the North Koreans had done it again.

Having settled the drug dealers, Shinsou and Yeonha now carried the lamps that Choe's men had brought up to the warehouse, so that they could have a look at the stash there.

Examination of the smuggled stash revealed all the items that Kaneshiro had mentioned earlier, including a large number of explosives. Shinsou and Yeonha now returned to the tenth floor and brought the pipe bombs up to the warehouse. There were six bombs in all; Watanabe had made extra, in case some didn't detonate, although Kaneshiro had been of the opinion that there were so many explosives in the warehouse that it wouldn't take much to ignite the entire place.

They were on the stair landing about to enter the warehouse, when Shinsou thought he saw something move in the darkness. Taking a flashlight out, he pointed it at the wall, to reveal a rather battered-looking garbage bin located in a corner.

The bin looked familiar. Shinsou could have sworn that he'd seen a similar one on the tenth floor landing, earlier. He hadn't taken much notice of it, for the building they were in was half-completed and there was a lot of debris lying around, including bins and empty containers.

He now marched up to the bin and directed the flashlight into its depths. It illuminated a terrified and cowering individual – none other than Lee the assistant cook, blinking in the bright light and trying to block the beam with his hands!

Yeonha gave a small gasp of fright on seeing that someone was concealed inside the bin. Shinsou furiously grabbed Lee by the shirt, and pulled him out.

"You interfering bastard!" he snarled, "What are you doing here?!"

"Don't hurt me!" squeaked Lee, and then his face went blank.

Shinsou was livid. Yeonha was looking astonished.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"He's Lee Sang-hun, a cook who works on board the Kirogi!" snapped Shinsou, glaring at Lee, his eyes blazing with anger. "Explain to me what you're doing here! You had better have a good explanation!"

"I've been suspecting that Jiyeon likes Han Youngjae more than me," Lee said, staring blankly into space. "Although she keeps denying it. I wanted to enjoy the Air Festival activities with her, but she kept putting me off, saying she wasn't interested, and that she planned to stay on the ship. I felt sure that it was because she was going to sneak out and enjoy the Festival with Han Youngjae instead, so I placed a tracking device on her, to follow her and see if it was true. But I didn't see her leave the ship, and she must have gotten into a car, because by the time I noticed she wasn't around, she was already some distance away, travelling at a moderate speed.

"By the time I managed to find a taxi, the tracking device monitor showed that she had stopped moving. I couldn't speak Korean, so I just showed the taxi driver the location of the place where she was, and he brought me there. But on the way there, Jiyeon suddenly vanished."

Shinsou guessed that Ryoko must have transformed into the Supreme Leader at this point, which had somehow stopped the tracking device from working.

"I couldn't tell exactly where she was any more, but I let the taxi driver drop me somewhere around that place, which turned out to be an industrial area, with factories," continued Lee, "and then I wandered around for hours, but couldn't find her."

"Well," said Shinsou, now feeling a bit sorry for Lee but also becoming impatient, "how did you end up here?"

"I'd given up and managed to find my way out of the industrial area, and started going back to the ship," said Lee, "Night had fallen by then. I was going through the city centre when your car went past.

"By chance, I had put on some infrared glasses that I'd brought along, at the time. I bought a pair because I'd heard a rumour that some of the secret police here like spying invisibly on the people, and I wanted to see if there were any in the crowd that's now in Wonsan. I took the glasses off just as your car went by, and realised that except for the driver all the people in it had disappeared.

"I realised that the people in your car were invisible, and so out of curiosity I hurried after the car. Luckily I went in the correct direction, because you'd parked the car in a corner and were disappearing down the road when I caught up and spotted it."

"So, you followed us here," said Shinsou grimly, "how did you do it without us noticing you? One of us had infrared goggles on and kept turning back to make sure we weren't being followed."

"I kept to the shadows and moved telekinetically inside this garbage bin," explained Lee, indicating the bin next to him, "I brought it with me, it's a collapsible bin. I bought it so that I could use it to spy on Jiyeon and find out if she was really with Youngjae."

To demonstrate, he pressed a button, and the garbage bin automatically folded itself up into a small compact cube.

"Where did you get that from?" demanded Shinsou.

"I bought it online, together with the tracking device," said Lee, "I don't know who the seller was, but he or she called himself Magnet."

Shinsou groaned inwardly. He suspected that the garbage bin and tracking device were Magnetron's creations. Magnetron had obviously found out that there was a market outside for some of the junk that he kept inventing.

"It's very clever," said Yeonha admiringly, "because the bin shielded him, Kaneshiro-san's infrared goggles didn't pick him out, and the night was dark, so he was able to hide in the shadows."

"So, you followed us all the way into the building?" said Shinsou.

"Yes," said Lee, "and when all of you became visible again, I recognised you as the man I saw outside Koryo Bar. When those other men appeared, I couldn't hear the conversation very well, but I was on your side, because their ringleader looked like scum, and ten men against four wasn't fair. And I also owed you one because I suspected that you must have brought me back to the ship after I saw you outside Koryo Bar … I don't know what happened, but just after I spoke to you I found myself back on the ship. I felt you must have done me a favour, because I realised later I could have been arrested if I had been caught wandering around, as a foreigner.

"Anyway … I tried my best to telekinetically deflect the bullet when the ringleader shot your compatriot. But I'm sorry … he still died."

Shinsou and Yeonha looked at each other.

"Appa might have died immediately if this man Lee hadn't deflected the bullet," said Yeonha softly, "he bought us some time, so that I had a chance to talk a little to my father."

"We'd have to thank him for that," admitted Shinsou, relenting a bit. He wondered if Lee could really have deflected something as fast-moving as a bullet, but at least he had tried. And it had indeed seemed a miracle that Nakajima hadn't died immediately, since Choe had shot him at fairly close range.

"I tried to warn you, when I saw the gunman coming upstairs from below," added Lee, "there was some debris on the ground, so I lifted it and then dropped it, to make some sound."

"That clinking noise," said Shinsou, "that was made by you?"

"Yes," agreed Lee, "and I tried to deflect the bullets again, but I'm sorry, I didn't deflect them enough, again I failed."

Shinsou was silent. Perhaps Lee hadn't managed to deflect the bullets completely, but he might have deflected them enough so that Kaneshiro had been badly wounded but not enough to have died immediately. Otherwise, he might never have had a chance to speak those final words to Shinsou.

"If it's true, we owe him a debt, Youngjae," said Yeonha, looking at Lee, "please forgive him for following us."

"All right," said Shinsou, rather reluctantly, "and he can do one more thing for us. We can't leave the bodies on the tenth floor, or the North Korean authorities might find them. We'll have to bring them up to the warehouse so that they can be destroyed when the bombs are detonated, and the resulting blaze should make a suitable funeral pyre for them. Lee can telekinetically carry the bodies up to the warehouse for us. It will make moving them much easier."

Shinsou made Lee move Kaneshiro first, for he knew that Lee would become fatigued after a while and might drop the bodies, and he wanted his colleagues to have as dignified an exit as possible. He ordered Lee to move Nakajima and Watanabe next without dropping them, as well; but he could see that the little man was becoming extremely tired by this time, so he allowed him to take rest breaks while moving Choe Yong-gon's body, and he also allowed him to slide the body along the floor.

Yeonha had an odd expression on her face as she watched Choe's body being dragged along.

"I guess I've gone and done murder," she murmured.

"You would probably be carrying out many more murders if you became a spy, like Choe wanted you to be," Shinsou said.

Yeonha looked at him.

"I know," she said solemnly, "Appa let me use the internet, while I was in Tokyo. I searched up 'North Korean spies' … they blew up a jet airliner once …" Her voice trailed off.

Once Choe's body had been placed in the warehouse, Shinsou allowed Lee to rest a bit; but eventually he ordered him to move the dead sentry's body as well.

"I've done murder as well, too," he said quietly, looking at the sentry's body as they followed along behind.

"No, you were saving the rest of us," Yeonha disagreed, also looking at the body, "What choice did you have? He would have shot us next. And you were avenging your colleague." She meant Kaneshiro.

"You were avenging your parents too, then, when you shot Choe," returned Shinsou.

She gave him a wan smile.

"So … this is the first time that you've killed someone?" she ventured to ask, after a pause.

"I'm a new spy," said Shinsou drily, "and we're taught to kill, but we don't intentionally do it. I went through hero school. You don't kill, as a hero. When you fight a villain, you don't mete out justice. It's for the police to do that …"

"Hero school?" said Yeonha, blankly.

Shinsou looked at her. Of course, there were no heroes in North Korea; Yeonha didn't know what a hero was. She must have seen heroes on patrol in Tokyo, of course; but no one had explained who they were to her, and they had become lost in the larger confusion of new and unfamiliar things surrounding her.

"It takes a while to explain," he said, seeing that they had reached the warehouse, "and there's no time now. There are heroes in America too. You'll find out all about them, there …"

Once all the bodies had been placed in the warehouse, Shinsou looked at Lee. He would have to get back to the port quickly, for the Kirogi would be leaving soon.

"We'll have to get this fellow back to the ship," he told Yeonha, "I suppose it's harmless enough that he saw us tonight, since he didn't really overhear our conversation and couldn't have figured out what we were doing. Make us invisible once we exit the building, will you?"

They made Lee put the collapsible bin (which was now a small cube) into his bag, and brought him downstairs and out of the building.

"Do you know how to drive?" Shinsou asked Lee.

"Yes," said Lee.

They reached the place where Watanabe's car was parked. Shinsou had taken the car key from Watanabe's pocket.

"Yeonha," said Shinsou, "give him directions to the port." To Lee he said, "You're going to drive this car back to the Kirogi. Listen carefully to the directions we give you. And if you get lost, just stop a passerby and show him or her the piece of paper that I'm going to give you."

While Yeonha was talking to Lee, Shinsou scribbled "Please give me directions to the port" in Korean on a piece of paper, and then handed it to the cook.

"Hopefully he'll reach there before the ship leaves," he commented, as they watched Watanabe's car disappear.

"He should reach there quite quickly," Yeonha assured him, "The port isn't far from the city centre." Then she realised what Shinsou had said.

"The ship's leaving?" She looked at him in disbelief, "What about you?"

"I can't go back," said Shinsou, avoiding her gaze, "I've got to set the timers for those bombs now and then bring you to meet Titus. And I promised Kaneshiro I'd figure out a way to fool the North Koreans …"

He turned abruptly.

"Come on," he said briefly, "There's no time to lose. After we're done here, we're going to Wonsan Hotel. Titus is getting some American missionaries out of the country to America tonight, and you'll be going with them."

"America?" said Yeonha, looking amazed.

Shinsou explained Titus' plan to her as they went back up the stairs. Once they reached the warehouse, he looked at the bodies of the three agents, which had been laid in a row. Choe's body and that of the sentry had been placed at the other end of the room.

Shinsou felt that he should say something in tribute to his colleagues, but he found himself at a loss for words. Yeonha, however, surprised him by taking a pile of small paper cranes out of her pocket.

"My grandmother taught me how to make origami cranes when I was in Iwate," she explained shyly, "she said that cranes are for good fortune and happiness, and long life. I was making them in Choe's hotel room just now because I was feeling down. They're not much, and it's too late for them to bring long life, but at least it's something."

She laid a few cranes on the body of Nakajima. "For Appa, whom I knew and loved too late, may he rest well and find joy in reuniting with Eomma," she said, her voice shaking slightly, trying to fight back tears.

She then moved on to Watanabe.

"For Samchon, who was like an uncle to me, and whom I loved like a father, may he rest in peace," she murmured, placing a few more cranes on his chest.

Finally, she came to Kaneshiro.

"For Kaneshiro-san, who saved my life and gave his own life for mine, I have no words to thank enough," she said softly. She arranged the remaining paper cranes on his body.

Shinsou did not say anything, but he placed the gun that he had used to shoot the sentry next to Kaneshiro.

"I avenged you, Kaneshiro," he thought sombrely, "rest in peace."

He then set the timers on the pipe bombs, to go off an hour later. They then hurried out of the building.

"Farewell, to some of the people I loved best in the world," Yeonha said softly, as they left the warehouse.

Shinsou said nothing, but squeezed her hand. They had left the rope behind, and went hand in hand down the stairs. They were silent as they descended, and he could not see her in the darkness, but he could tell that she was crying again. She had been too busy helping him earlier to think, but it was now slowly sinking in, everything that she had lost. Shinsou realised that he was now all she had left in the world, and in a few hours she would lose even that, as well.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and left the building, making their way invisibly through the streets of the city centre, to Wonsan Hotel.


	22. Wonsan Hotel

**22 WONSAN HOTEL**

It was two in the morning when Shinsou and Yeonha walked into the elegant lobby of Wonsan Hotel. They were invisible, and had to avoid bumping into people, for there were still many merrymakers wandering around the streets and inside the hotel itself.

The hotel was sixty storeys high. The two young people were feeling exhausted, not only because they were suffering emotionally from what had happened just an hour earlier, but also because they had been repeatedly climbing up and down the stairs inside the warehouse building. Neither of them fancied climbing the sixty storeys to the roof of the hotel where the helicopter landing pad was, so they stood invisibly near the elevators for a while, and when it finally looked as if one was empty and no one else was going to get in, hurried inside and pressed the [door close] button as hard as they could.

The elevator seemed to take a long time to ascend all sixty storeys, and Shinsou hoped fervently that a power outage wouldn't suddenly occur and trap them inside. Fortunately, the elevator arrived successfully at its destination, and they then climbed one last flight of stairs before coming out onto the hotel rooftop.

They saw the night sky above them, and a view of Wonsan and its surroundings spread out before them, dark on one side where the sea was, while on the other side was the city. The latter was normally dark at night, but with the Air Festival imminent the lights in every building now seemed to be on, and Shinsou and Yeonha beheld the city lights, spread out like a carpet of stars.

There were a handful of people on the rooftop, consisting of hotel guests enjoying the view, and several hotel staff. Shinsou had been afraid that the Basketballer might have returned early from the Family Palace, and that they had missed the helicopter, but to his relief, they eventually managed to locate Titus. He was alone, standing discreetly in one far corner of the rooftop garden, out of sight of everyone else because the low building that housed the stairs and the rooftop entrance blocked him from view.

Yeonha allowed both Shinsou and herself to become visible again. Titus looked startled when he saw Shinsou in the henchman's disguise, before they hurriedly explained who he was.

"Yeonha-ya," Titus said, looking at her in evident relief, "I am truly glad to see you here!"

He glanced at Shinsou. "Her mother? …"

"She's dead," said Yeonha in a low voice, "and so is my father. Yes," – she saw Titus' surprised look – "I know that Han Kyung-ju was my father. Choe Yong-gon killed both of them."

Titus bowed his head in grief.

"You will tell me what happened later," he then said to Yeonha, "but I must tell you, Yeonha, your father spoke to me at length about what his hopes were for the family. You will come to America with me, where I will be your guardian and make you my ward. See," – he brought some papers out of his pocket – "your father left a copy of his will with me, in case he didn't manage to join you and your mother in the U.S. … he has left everything that he owned to you."

Yeonha's eyes widened.

"Appa?" she faltered.

"You will have to take on a new name in America, Yeonha," said Titus, looking earnestly at her, "it was already known that you had gone missing here in Wonsan, and so I could not get a death certificate forged for you here as many defectors do, or it would have looked suspicious. The regime sometimes tracks down defectors to punish them, so you had better take on an assumed name."

"No," said Yeonha slowly, "I will take on my _real_ name – Nakajima, my father's surname, and Yuna, which is what my mother called me."

"That's a good choice, Yeonha," said Shinsou approvingly, as Titus smiled.

"When is the helicopter coming?" asked Yeonha hesitantly, glancing at Shinsou. He knew that she was both dreading the parting that would come later, as well as venturing alone into the unknown, to a new country.

"I'm not sure," said Titus, "I've been waiting here for a while. It depends on when the Basketballer decides he wants to leave the party. Please excuse me for a few minutes," – he gestured toward the rooftop entrance – "I need to check on those missionaries, to see if they're all right."

He made off rapidly for the entrance.

Shinsou and Yeonha, both exhausted, sat down in the shadows in the rooftop corner, and looked out over the view of Wonsan.

"Appa thought about me, and made provision for my future," said Yeonha reflectively, after a silence of a few minutes, "it's almost as if he knew what was going to happen."

"He sometimes seemed to have a sixth sense about how things would turn out," agreed Shinsou.

"But he didn't have any premonition that he would be ambushed, tonight," said Yeonha, sadly.

She was silent for a while, thinking.

"I'd far prefer to have him alive, with me, than to receive an inheritance from him," she murmured.

"We can see the warehouse building from here," commented Shinsou, changing the subject. Indeed, the building looked close enough that they would probably have a good view of the explosion, when it occurred.

"How long more?" asked Yeonha, looking rather startled.

"Half an hour, maybe," said Shinsou, looking at his watch.

She was looking out in the darkness at the city lights.

"I've lived in Wonsan all my life," she mused, "it's strange to think I'm leaving, that I may never come back …"

She paused, then continued.

"Except for that short time in Japan, I've never been anywhere else," she said softly, "I may have seen a little of what other countries are like through movies or TV dramas, but being in Japan made me realise how little I know of the world outside. Growing up here in North Korea has made me ignorant. I'm afraid of the future."

"You'll be fine," said Shinsou reassuringly, "you'll do fine, just like so many of your countrymen who have defected."

"Most went to South Korea," Yeonha pointed out, "It's probably easier to assimilate there, where Korean is spoken and the culture is the same."

"Not necessarily," said Shinsou slowly, "I've read about it. North Koreans who defect to the South have a different accent, and many feel awkward, trying to hide it. And the vocabulary of many words and phrases is different. It might actually be easier for you to be accepted in America, which has immigrants from all over the world. And after all, you already speak some English."

He turned to look at her. They had so little time left, and he realised there was a lot that he wanted to say to her.

"Yeonha," he said quietly, "you know, your parents loved each other very much, and they loved you too." He didn't know why, but he felt it was important that she hear someone say that to her.

He told her how her father met her mother, and how Nakajima later never forgot Park Soojin; how he schemed to go to North Korea to see both Yeonha and her mother before he died, roping Shinsou in.

"And you never knew this," added Shinsou, "but your father was one of the finest intelligence agents our agency in Japan has ever had."

There was a look of wonder on Yeonha's face. "He was?"

"Yes," said Shinsou quietly, "and you're like him. You even have his Quirk. Did you realise that? You might have guessed, when you found out he had the same Quirk as you, that you were his daughter."

Realisation was dawning on her face.

"I'm telling you this so that you can be proud of who you are," said Shinsou, looking intently at her, "You're not going to be a Zainichi Korean outcast living in a country where people look down on you any more. Listen to me – it must have come as a shock to find out that you're actually half-Japanese – "

"No, it wasn't too shocking, somehow," said Yeonha slowly, "after all, I've spoken Japanese all my life ..."

"That's good," said Shinsou, smiling slightly.

"It was the first language I spoke, because of Eomma," she continued, looking at him, "and actually, I still think in it."

"Well, be proud of who you are," said Shinsou, looking seriously at her, "you're both Korean and Japanese. And don't be afraid. America's different from North Korea, and you'll take a while to settle down and get used to everything there, but you'll get through it."

She was looking at him, just as seriously.

"You know, Youngjae," she said, "I don't even know your real name."

There was a pause, as he looked at her, and then he said, "It's Shinsou. Hitoshi Shinsou."

"Hitoshi," she said thoughtfully. She reached a hand out and touched his face, looking wistful. "I only saw what you really looked like that one time, in the Directorate."

Shinsou took the hand that was touching his cheek, and held it in his.

"Probably the disguise is an improvement," he said, drily.

She laughed then, and shook her head.

"Youngjae," she said earnestly, squeezing his hand and looking into his face, "listen to me ... come with me to America! You can't go back to Japan now, the Kirogi will have left! I beg you, come with me! I don't have anyone else left in the world but you. You're the only one left who knows me, knows my story …"

"There's Titus," said Shinsou, but she shook her head.

"Come with me!" she said again, insistently, "Forget about the promise you made to Kaneshiro, Youngjae! There's no way you can make the North Koreans think that the bombing was done by one of their own agents! You'll die … I know you will … if you stay here in North Korea …" She was almost crying.

"Yeonha, don't," said Shinsou quietly, catching her other hand, so that he was holding both her hands in his, "You know I can't break my promise to Kaneshiro. Don't ask me to do that. I have to try. And if I die trying, so be it. It would be better if you forgot about me, after this. Forget that you ever knew me, or that I ever existed."

There was an anguished expression in her eyes as she looked at him, because she knew what he meant: forget him, because he wasn't going to survive once she had left.

She was silent for a while, looking out into the darkness.

"I'm sorry," she said at length, sounding slightly ashamed, "I know I shouldn't ask you to break your promise …"

She glanced down, and pulled her jacket closer to her. "All I'll have left to remind me of you is this," she said, bitterly. Shinsou hadn't noticed until then that she was wearing the jacket he had bought her.

"I see that you're wearing your grandmother's pendant, as well," he said lightly, noticing it around her neck.

She gave a small sigh.

"And I have this, too," she murmured, pulling something out from inside the jacket. It was the book on aircraft that Nakajima had given her.

"Listen!" Shinsou said suddenly, holding up a hand.

In the distance, they could hear the faint whirring sound of rotors: a helicopter was approaching.

Yeonha tucked her precious book away, and then catching hold of Shinsou's hand, made the both of them invisible. They ventured out of their rooftop corner to see where the sound was coming from.

The hotel staff had evidently been waiting for the chopper as well, for they now began clearing the rooftop of people, asking the hotel guests to go back inside.

Presently the chopper appeared, which Yeonha said was an MD 500. Kaneshiro had observed it during the Air Festival rehearsal at Kalma Airport, and had said that it must have been developed from the American Hughes 500 and illegally obtained by the North Koreans.

They stood for a while, invisibly watching. Everyone on the rooftop had now disappeared, save for the few hotel staff waiting to assist and escort the Basketballer back to his room. They felt the strong downwash from the rotors as the chopper noisily descended, finally landing neatly on the landing pad.

The Basketballer, when he disembarked, was seen to be an extremely tall, black man. To Shinsou's bemusement, he was attired in a white, sleeveless wedding dress, out of which emerged his heavily tattooed arms.

Shinsou couldn't see Yeonha's face because they were invisible, but he could imagine her staring, open-mouthed, just as the hotel staff were doing.

"Oh Youngjae," he presently heard her whisper in trepidation, "are all Americans like that?"

Shinsou had to laugh.

"No," he assured her, amused, "maybe there was a costume party at the Family Palace tonight."

The Basketballer seemed to be in good spirits, quite unabashed at being seen in a wedding gown, and looked as if he was enjoying the astonishment he was generating. He greeted the stunned hotel staff jovially, before disappearing inside the hotel with them. The hotel staff had to tread gingerly to avoid stepping on the spreading skirts.

After a few minutes, Titus reappeared. He went over to the chopper and spoke to the people inside. After about a minute two more men disembarked – Shinsou guessed they must be the baggage handlers – and went into the hotel.

Titus then came over to the rooftop corner.

"Yeonha?" he said, looking around.

"We're here, Titus-ssi," said Yeonha, making herself and Shinsou visible again.

"Titus-ssi," said Shinsou, "What about the helicopter pilot? Are you planning to have Yeonha keep the two of you invisible so that he won't notice you on board the chopper?"

"The pilot is in the know," Titus assured him, "he has helped us before. But it would be better if Yeonha made us invisible when boarding anyway, so that no one around sees us leaving.

"It will take a while before everything is settled," he continued, looking rather apologetically at Yeonha, "I've just told the baggage handlers to get the luggage from the Basketballer's room. I'll return and let you know when all is ready. Please be patient – "

"It's all right, Titus-ssi," said Yeonha, glancing unhappily at Shinsou, "I'm not in any hurry."

Titus nodded distractedly, and then disappeared rapidly back into the hotel.

"Yeonha," said Shinsou quietly, looking at his watch, "the bombs … it should be anytime now."

They went back to their hidden corner, and stood, hand in hand, watching.

"It should be now," said Shinsou, his eyes on his watch, "three … two … _one_ – "

Even though he had been expecting it, Shinsou wasn't prepared for the fierceness of the explosion. There was a deafening blast, and the building seemed to blow itself apart, erupting violently into flames, the tongues extending for miles upward into the night sky.

It was an awesome sight. All the surrounding buildings, as well as everyone and everything on the hotel rooftop, were bathed in the eerie light from the flames. Shinsou almost felt as if he could feel the heat from them, as he and Yeonha stood unnoticed in their corner, watching.

Screams erupted from the streets below, and before long curious onlookers were venturing out onto the hotel rooftop as well, to watch the spectacle.

Yeonha was weeping quietly again, because her father and Watanabe were gone. Shinsou turned, and taking her into his arms, held her tight.

He held her for what seemed a long time. Then she allowed the both of them to become visible, because she wanted him to see the expression on her face. She slowly raised her head, and standing back, looked at him.

"How does one say goodbye for forever?" she said quietly, "I've lost my parents and samchon, and in a short while I'm going to lose you, too."

She was coming close to him again, her face full of feeling, and Shinsou didn't know what came over him, then. It must have been the emotion of the moment, the anxiety that he felt for her, and the knowledge that he would never see her again after this; or because everything just seemed so surreal in the light of the flames, and the fact that she really was very beautiful, but he didn't stop her when she pulled him close and her lips met his. He returned her kiss, and then after a while he forgot everything else, the people standing nearby on the rooftop, even the burning warehouse building, and he crushed her in his arms and kissed her passionately.

He didn't know how long they stood there, in the light of the burning building. It seemed as if there was no one else in the world except the two of them.

He realised what he was doing, after some time, and abruptly drew away. She took a while to catch her breath, and then she looked at him, her face pensive.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, seeing the expression on his face, "I forgot myself. You're feeling bad because you're thinking about your girlfriend, aren't you?"

"No," said Shinsou, rather shaken, "I'm feeling bad because I _didn't_ think about her, for those few minutes."

She smiled sadly.

"That was my first real kiss," she whispered, "I wanted it to be with you."

"Yeonha," said Shinsou gently, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking at her, "You're beautiful. You'll find someone else, in time – "

"It'll be different," she said, glancing away, "No one else will ever understand me the way you do, or know where I come from, and who I am. Not like you do."

Shinsou suddenly saw Titus making his way towards them.

"Titus is coming," he said quietly, turning back to her, "It's time for you to go."

Yeonha's face was pale. She turned to look at Titus approaching, and then looked up at Shinsou, a stricken expression on her face.

"Have a happy life, Yeonha," said Shinsou, gazing intently at her, "Remember, you have your father's blood. Be proud of who you are, and don't forget where you came from. It will keep you grounded, when things don't seem to be going well."

She nodded, her face downcast.

"I'll try to live well," she said, her eyes once more wandering over the city below, "for the sake of, and in memory, of my parents. And for Kaneshiro, who gave his life for me."

"You're intelligent and talented," said Shinsou reassuringly, "you'll be fine. Remember your dreams. You'll have a chance to become a pilot over there in America, just as you've always wanted to be!"

She smiled at him, then. Titus had reached them, but she lifted a hand, indicating that she wanted a few minutes more.

"Youngjae," she said earnestly, looking up at Shinsou, "I want to thank you. For everything. For Masikryong, and the Test Flight, and even trying to lose the sparring match for me. For brainwashing Choe Yong-gon, so that I could know the truth about my parents. For agreeing to pretend to be my father's son, and spending so much time with me. Even for bringing me here to the rooftop, to give me a chance at a new life. Thank you. I owe you, I owe you so much …" She was starting to cry.

"It's nothing," said Shinsou, "you can thank me best by having a wonderful life. Promise me you'll be happy."

"Be careful, after this," she said entreatingly, "whatever you're about to do, and wherever you're going."

"I will," he said.

She gave him one final, fierce, quick hug, and then drew away and looked at him, tears in her eyes.

"You were my first love," she whispered, her face full of emotion, "I'll never forget you."

She turned quickly then, and nodded to Titus. Taking his arm, she made him and herself invisible.

Shinsou waited for a few moments once they had disappeared, and then came out from the rooftop corner and stood in the shadows, watching the helicopter. He might have been imagining it, but he thought that he momentarily had a glimpse of Yeonha's face at one of the windows as it presently rose into the air, the rotors whirring deafeningly.

The hotel staff had made all the guests retreat to one end of the roof, but some of them were laughing and waving at the chopper, in fun.

Shinsou waved as well, although he didn't know whether Yeonha could see him.

"Nor will I ever forget you," he thought soberly, as he watched the chopper, still bathed in the light of the flames from the warehouse, fly off swiftly into the night sky.


	23. The Bowibu Chief

**23 THE BOWIBU CHIEF**

Shinsou considered taking the stairs to get down from the hotel rooftop, but opted for the elevator in the end. He had not detected any surveillance cameras in there, and he decided to conserve his energy for whatever else he might encounter that night. For he had the feeling that if he was to fulfil his promise to Kaneshiro, he was going to have to do it soon, at least before the night was over. Once the escape of the abductees had been discovered and it had become entrenched in the North Koreans' minds that Japan had had a hand in tonight's activities, it was going to be impossible to convince them otherwise.

The hotel lobby seemed to be full of people, and the streets outside were even more crowded. The thousands of people who had descended upon the city for the Air Festival did not seem to have retired for the night; and they were gawking at the warehouse building, which was still engulfed in flames.

Several fire trucks had arrived by this time. Burning debris was falling from the building, and the onlookers were keeping a respectful distance from it.

Shinsou squeezed his way through the crowd, and then went around to inspect, from a distance, the rear of the building as well. As far as he could see, no one on the ground appeared to have been injured by the explosion. It mattered to him because of his hero training, not to injure or take a life unnecessarily.

He made his way to the building where they had closeted the drug dealers. Fortunately, Nakajima had anticipated the crowd, and had been shrewd enough to choose a place far away enough that the area around there was still fairly deserted of people.

Shinsou slipped inside the building and freed the drug dealers, ordering them to go back home still in their brainwashed states. He had to release them, for the authorities were sure to search the area, and he didn't want the dealers to be discovered and interrogated, giving clues as to who might have blown up the warehouse.

He eventually came out of the building, and watched the last of the dealers disappear into the distant crowd. Although he was reasonably far from the warehouse building, the heat from the inferno seemed palpable. He stood for a while, just looking at the blaze, and wondering what to do next.

At this moment, a sleek black Audi with tinted windows pulled up nearby, and a man got out. The light was dim, but Shinsou thought that he looked familiar. It took him a while to figure out who it was: Ri Wonhong, the Bowibu Chief. He was not dressed in his Party Cadre uniform, but in civilian clothes, and Shinsou guessed that he must have come from his residence when notified about the blaze, and wanted to observe it discreetly.

Ri was scowling, and Shinsou knew why. There were thousands of people in the city at the moment, including numerous foreign journalists. It was an embarrassment for North Korea for an explosion like this to occur at this time, especially for him, as Head of the State Security Department.

He had his mobile phone in his hand, and Shinsou guessed that he had dispatched his men to find out what was happening. Shinsou was about to slip away when Ri spotted him. Holding a handkerchief to his face so that he wouldn't be recognised, he gestured at Shinsou to come over to him.

Shinsou's first impulse was to beat a hasty retreat, but after all, this was the Bowibu Chief. It would be foolish to try to run away from someone like him. A more prudent measure would be to brainwash him first, and then make a swift escape.

He made his way over to Ri, and was quick to speak before the Bowibu Chief did.

"Yes, sir?" he said respectfully, as he stopped in front of Ri.

"Were you here when this happened?" Ri asked, in a muffled voice from behind his handkerchief; but then his face went blank.

Shinsou was about to leave, when an idea suddenly occurred to him. He looked around; there was no one else in the immediate vicinity, except for Ri's driver in the front seat of the Audi.

"Get into your car," he said to Ri.

He got into the car together with Ri. "Good evening," he said to the startled driver.

The driver didn't reply, but gaped at him.

"Tell your driver to return my greeting," Shinsou said to Ri.

After he had brainwashed the driver, he said to Ri, "I'll need you to put on your Party Cadre uniform. Where are you staying?"

"At the Bowibu holiday residence," answered Ri.

Slightly to the south of Wonsan, near Sijung Lake, the Bowibu had been granted a comfortable beachfront property, alongside the summer retreats of several other privileged organisations, such as the Daesong General Bureau or "Office 39", the body that procured luxury goods from overseas for the Supreme Leader's family.

"Drive us there," Shinsou ordered the driver.

Ri's phone vibrated several times during the journey, but Shinsou didn't bother to let him answer it. However, after a while it vibrated so persistently that Shinsou was half afraid that it might wake Ri from his brainwashed state. He asked who the caller was, in case it was the Supreme Leader, who might have somehow heard about the explosion and hurried back from Masikryong Resort.

"It is Jeong Pyong-chol," said Ri, after examining the still vibrating phone, "the KPAAF Chief."

Shinsou looked at Ri, as another idea also occurred to him. KPAAF referred to the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force.

"Why do you think he's calling you now?" he asked.

"The Wonsan Air Festival starts later today," said Ri, "A lot of Air Force aircraft are taking part in it, and he must have heard about the explosion and wants to ask me if there is any danger to security for the Show."

"Answer the call," ordered Shinsou, "tell him you're busy, and that if he wants to speak to you, he's going to have to come to the Bowibu compound."

Ri did so, and then informed Shinsou that the Air Force Chief was on his way back from the airport where he had been working out last minute arrangements for the Festival programme. He would be at the Bowibu compound shortly.

When they arrived, Shinsou told Ri to go inside and change into his full Party Cadre uniform, and also to bring a pen and some paper along. He waited outside in the car with the driver. Fortunately, Ri had returned to the car by the time the Air Force Chief came sweeping up in a similar Audi. Shinsou was pleased to note that Jyeong was already wearing his Cadre uniform.

"Ri," said Jyeong, looking displeased that he had been forced to come to the Bowibu compound, "What is this I hear about a bomb going off in the city?" He broke off when Ri did not respond.

"I'm sorry, sir," said Shinsou apologetically, "but the General is indisposed."

Jyeong immediately looked suspicious. "Who are you – " His face went blank.

Shinsou said to the brainwashed Air Force Chief, "Tell your driver to drive your car to Kalma Airport and wait for you there. And then get into our car."

So it was that Shinsou found himself inside Ri's Audi with the Bowibu Chief on one side of him, and Jyeong on the other. He could hardly believe what was happening.

"I'll have to play this carefully," he thought to himself.

"Drive us to Kalma Airport," he said to the driver.

He then turned to Jyeong. "What is the largest transport helicopter that the Air Force has?"

"The Mil Mi-26," answered Jyeong.

"Is there one at Kalma Airport now?" inquired Shinsou.

"No," said Jyeong, "we are not featuring it in the Air Festival. But there is one at Kang Da Ri airfield, a few miles southwest of Wonsan."

Shinsou was relieved. He had been afraid that the helicopter would have been in some airfield at the other end of the country, in which case it would take hours to arrive.

"All right," he said, "get one of your men to summon your Mi-26 pilot and arrange for him to fly the helicopter to Kalma Airport now. Which of the airfields in North Korea is nearest to the Chinese border?"

"Uiju Airfield," answered Jyeong, "in North Pyongan province. It is near the Yalu River, and across the river lies China."

"Order your Mi-26 pilot to meet us at Kalma Airport," said Shinsou, "and arrange for one of your Mi-24 pilots to be there, as well." The Mil Mi-24 was an attack helicopter, and Shinsou knew that a few were taking part in the Air Show, for Kaneshiro had identified them during the rehearsal they had watched the previous day.

"Tell both pilots to prepare for a long flight," added Shinsou, "The Mi-26 will need enough fuel to reach Uiju. And order the Mi-24 pilot to bring an extra pair of gloves, and a rope long enough for rappelling down onto a ship."

He then turned to the Bowibu Chief.

"Call the Wonsan Port Master," he said, "Tell him to radio a ship called the Kirogi and find out its current coordinates and bearing."

Once Shinsou had noted the coordinates down, he said to Ri, "Tell the Port Master to inform the Kirogi captain that an attack helicopter will be approaching it later tonight, and will radio it to let off its flares to indicate its position. If they don't comply, tell him that when the helicopter eventually finds it, we will blow the ship to bits."

When Ri had finished doing this, Shinsou said, "Now take the pen and paper out, and listen to what I am going to say, and rewrite it in perfect Korean."

It was dark in the car, so he aimed his flashlight at Ri's paper to provide some light. When he saw that Ri was ready, he began.

"I, General Ri Wonhong, Head of the State Security Department, together with General Jeong Pyong-chol, Commander of the North Korean Air Force, have realised the error of our ways. We believe that North Korea should befriend the South, and Japan as well. As a token of goodwill I have ordered the release of several Japanese citizens that North Korea abducted from Japan two days ago. Since we are not on friendly terms with Japan it will not be feasible for us to enter Japanese waters and return them. Therefore General Jyeong has ordered one of our Mil Mi-26 transport helicopters to bring them to an undisclosed location near the border with China, where they will be freed.

"We in North Korea have also been using the Chongryon ship _Kirogi_ to smuggle goods and technology from Japan. As an additional demonstration of good faith, I have therefore also ordered the blowing up of a warehouse in the Wonsan city centre that has been storing these smuggled goods."

They were now approaching Kalma Airport. Shinsou told the driver to find a quiet area where there weren't many people, so that they could discreetly leave the car. He then said to the Air Force Chief, "Call one of your men at the airport and see if the helicopter pilots have arrived. Have your man meet us and escort us to them."

The pilots had not arrived, but Jyeong ordered one of his men to meet them at the car and bring them to the helipad.

As he and Jyeong got out of the car, Shinsou told Ri, "I am now going to tell your driver to bring you to Kalma Hotel. When you arrive, go to whoever is in charge there and tell them to summon all the journalists in the city back to the hotel, because you want to give a press conference. Once the hotel staff have arranged everything, read out the speech that you have written on the paper. When this has been done, answer all the journalists' questions as if you agree with everything in the speech. Make up whatever you need to, to support the story."

He then ordered the driver to bring Ri to Kalma Hotel. As he watched the car drive away, he reflected that he would have preferred to be present while the Bowibu Chief gave the press conference – in case by chance something woke him from his brainwashed state – but he couldn't spare the time. He would have to get the transport helicopter into the air as soon as possible and make it head for the Chinese border, to provide a diversion so that no one would guess that the abductees had actually left on the Kirogi. Once it was known that the abductees had disappeared, the North Korean authorities were sure to scour the country, looking for them. The Kirogi had now already been sailing for several hours, but it would still take some time for it to sail out of North Korean territory into international waters, and Shinsou was going to have to buy it enough time to make it away safely.

He would then have to try to get away, himself. After this it would be unlikely that he would have any more chances to try fooling the North Korean authorities. This was the best he could do, to fulfil his promise to Kaneshiro.

One of Jyeong's men met them, and Shinsou managed to brainwash him. He didn't want the man to start wondering who he was, and notice that Jyeong seemed to be taking orders from him; it would have appeared too suspicious.

When they arrived at the helipad, the attack helicopter pilot was there, but the Mi-26 transport chopper, which had to fly in from Kang Da Ri, had still not arrived. Shinsou privately wished he could make Jyeong order the Mi-26 pilot to fly directly to Uiju over the phone, but it would be imprudent to give instructions in that manner, in case they were misinterpreted and executed wrongly. It would be better to see the pilot in person and brainwash him and give him precise instructions.

As they waited, Shinsou wondered how long it would take for the Kalma Hotel staff to arrange for the press conference. It was the middle of the night, and it would probably take a while just to summon the correct hotel staff to take charge. Then there were the journalists; some might be asleep, but most would probably be somewhere in the city centre watching the burning warehouse building. It would take time to round up enough journalists to provide a decent audience. However, the Bowibu Chief was so feared that the hotel staff would probably try to get everything ready as soon as possible.

Shinsou was in no hurry for the conference to take place too quickly, for once the news got out, the North Korean authorities would be looking for the abductees and possibly any Japanese agents trying to flee the country, if they happened to doubt Ri's testimony. Even if they suspected that Ri had been brainwashed and that it was the work of Japanese spies (and they would definitely be suspicious once they found out that the Kirogi had set sail in the middle of the night), the foreign press would already have published Ri's announcement in their own newspapers, and it would have made international news that the North Koreans had blown up their own warehouse and freed the abductees of their own accord.

How the North Koreans were going to respond to the press conference, Shinsou didn't know. Hopefully they would disbelieve Ri and Jyeong when they eventually woke up and protested that they had been brainwashed. The Supreme Leader wanted to get rid of Ri anyway, and Nakajima and Kaneshiro had let drop, in the past, that the Air Force Chief was also due to be purged. The Supreme Leader might decide to take the opportunity to get rid of them.

The Mi-26 helicopter finally arrived. Shinsou told Jyeong to order the pilot to fly to Uiju Airfield immediately, but to speak with Shinsou first.

Shinsou managed to brainwash the pilot.

"Fly as fast as is feasible to Uiju Airfield," he said, "once you've landed there, if anyone asks where the Japanese abductees are, say that they have already made for the Yalu River, and that they have probably crossed the border into China."

Once the Mi-26 had departed, he brainwashed the Mi-24 pilot.

"Look at the coordinates and bearing of this ship, the _Kirogi_." He showed the pilot what he had scribbled down earlier, "These were the ship's coordinates about an hour ago. I want you to estimate how far the ship might have travelled since then, and fly me out to sea and find it. Once you think you're in the vicinity, radio the ship. When you've made contact, tell it to send out flares to show us where it is.

"Once you've located it, hover above it and let me rappel down onto the deck. When you see that I've successfully made it down, you may fly back to Kalma. Don't tell anyone what you did or where you went."

He was trying to give the pilot as many instructions as he could now, for it would be difficult once they were airborne because the helicopter was so noisy. He didn't like to think that he was getting the pilot into trouble, but there was no other way he could escape, and he also could not risk giving the Kirogi away.

Before boarding the chopper he told Jyeong to call for his car and make his way to Kalma Hotel to join Ri, and to support everything Ri had said in his speech.

He took a breath as he sat in the darkness and the chopper rose up in the air and headed off into the night. He had timed everything as best he could, and now everything was left to fate. Anything could go wrong – Ri or Jyeong could wake from their brainwashed states, the Mi-26 transport chopper might be intercepted by North Korean fighter jets if they happened to notice it flying across the country …

There were people enough who would guess that something was amiss with the press conference. The Air Force man who had escorted them to the helipad would eventually wake from his brainwashed state and wonder what had happened. The Mi-24 pilot would be asked where he had flown the chopper. Then there was the Port Master who would wonder about the strange phone call and how curious it was that the Supreme Leader had ordered the Kirogi to leave in the dead of night.

Shinsou brought his disguise kit out and began to change back into his deckhand disguise in the darkness of the helicopter. He had thought and planned as much as he could, while executing the operation; he couldn't change anything now, and so there was no use thinking too much about it.

The Mi-24 took about an hour to locate the Kirogi. Captain Jang, terrified at the thought of being blown up by an attack helicopter, obligingly released the ship's flares high into the night sky.

The attack helicopter hovered above the ship and the beam from its searchlights flooded the deck with light. Shinsou knew that he would have to fast-rope down quickly, for the ship was still moving.

He had already fastened the rope at one end, near enough to be within reach of the pilot, and instructed the pilot to cut the rope once he had landed on the ship's deck. He let the other end of the rope slide out of the chopper door, and put the gloves the pilot had given him on, for fast-roping was always hard on the hands. Glancing out, he could see members of the crew on the ship's deck, watching the helicopter fearfully.

"I've done the best that I could, and tried not to let you down," he said quietly in his mind to Kaneshiro, as he slid down the rope.

The chopper pilot, seeing that he had made it down, cut the rope, so that it fell heavily onto the deck. The chopper then began making its way back to Wonsan. Shinsou lay crouched where he had landed, listening to the sound of the rotors fading away as the Mi-24 receded into the night. Then, ignoring the crew who were standing silently nearby, watching him in amazement, he slowly rose to his feet and looked up at the sky. It was dark again, now that the searchlights from the chopper were gone. He could see the last of the flares, glowing red and hanging high up in the air, slowly dimming and then dissolving away, until only the stars were left, twinkling faintly, like tiny beacons of hope, in the night sky.


	24. Ikarashi Beach

**24 IKARASHI BEACH**

When Shinsou dropped down upon the deck of the Kirogi, he had been in no mood to talk to anyone or explain anything to anybody. He eventually brainwashed Captain Jang and First Mate Hwang into telling the rest of the crew to leave him alone, and then brainwashed Lazy Jang into doing all of his duties for him.

Ryoko had broken down in tears when she found out what had happened to Nakajima and Kaneshiro. She had done her part while masquerading as the Supreme Leader, and the abductees were now being housed in the better cabins and treated well. Shinsou felt too tired and sad to rejoice much over the successful rescue; the most he could manage was to nod as she recounted what had happened, in between sobs.

He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. Afraid that the North Korean authorities might give chase to the Kirogi, he ordered the brainwashed captain to sail at full speed, so that they would reach international waters and Japan sooner. He then spent the remainder of the night at the bow of the ship, looking out over the dark sea. In his mind he was standing there in tribute to his fallen colleagues, to Nakajima and Kaneshiro, who had both so liked standing near the bow, and to Watanabe, who had been a resourceful companion during his time in Wonsan.

Ryoko joined him for an hour or so, and for once Shinsou felt grateful that she was there. It would have been so much harder if he'd had to return to Japan all alone. Lee had made it back to the Kirogi on time, and he tried joining them, but Ryoko sent him away, feeling that this grief was hers and Shinsou's alone to bear. To her surprise, Lee complied without hesitation, and without getting jealous.

What Ryoko didn't realise was that when Lee had reached the port earlier, he had woken up from his brainwashed state, and had seen the Supreme Leader leaving the Kirogi. When Ryoko had shortly arrived back at the ship after that in her cook's disguise, he had immediately deduced that she had been masquerading as the Leader. He had also guessed, after Shinsou had rappelled down onto the ship from the Mi-24, that he was the man he had seen outside Koryo Bar and in the warehouse. After all, Shinsou had brainwashed him on board the ship before, in a manner similar to the way the man outside Koryo Bar had.

Shinsou, unaware that Lee now knew that he and Ryoko were something more than just ship's crew, told the cat girl to get some rest after a while. He himself stood at the bow until dawn, and watched the sun slowly rise over the horizon. They had reached international waters, and the North Koreans did not appear to be pursuing the ship (he later found out that his diversion had worked – the North Koreans, intent on locating the Mi-26 headed for the Chinese border, focused on that and didn't realise till later that the Kirogi had left in the middle of the night). Encouraged by this, he wearily made his way back to his cabin, and slept.

It was late in the afternoon when he found Ryoko shaking him awake.

"Shinsou-kun, wake up!" she was hissing agitatedly, "You forgot about the ship! It's still the Kirogi! Hwang didn't change it back into the Shiramine! The Japanese Coast Guard has spotted us!"

Shinsou swore inwardly, and then jumping up, dashed off to look for Hwang. He had completely forgotten about the transformation. North Korean vessels were banned in Japanese waters, and their presence there must be making a sensation.

He found Hwang still in his brainwashed state and made him transform the ship back into the Shiramine, but it was too late.

The Coast Guard boarded the ship. They demanded an explanation from the captain about the appearance of the ship, and discovered the abductees, none of whom had passports on them. They detained the entire crew and everyone else on board, until an investigation could be carried out.

Ryoko was in trouble, for she had lost Yoshida's hairs and had transformed back to her cat self, which didn't match the photo in her passport. Shinsou managed to use the ship's satellite phone to call Fujiwara, the Director-General of the Directorate, to intercede for him and Ryoko and the abductees.

Fujiwara came over to Niigata City in person. He was an impressive-looking man, extremely tall with an eagle's head and a regal bearing. He was a person of considerable clout, and Shinsou and Ryoko presently found themselves being released to him.

The police had been called in by this time. The two agents briefed Fujiwara on what had happened in Wonsan, and the Director-General then had a protracted discussion with the Niigata City police chief.

It was early afternoon on the following day by the time Fujiwara drove his two agents back to Tokyo. Shinsou had, in the meantime, removed his deckhand disguise and assumed his true appearance. By this time, the news had long been out about what had happened in Wonsan. Ri Wonhong had given the press conference to journalists from all over the world, and major newspapers in every country, including Japan, were carrying the story about the abductees and the smuggled goods.

The Japanese government was going to decommission the Shiramine. The abductees had been reunited with their families. The Japanese media, of course, were agog to find out how the abductees had returned on the Shiramine when the Bowibu Chief had announced that they were headed for the Chinese border, but the police had no details for them. Captain Jang and the rest of the crew kept insisting that the Supreme Leader himself had ordered their repatriation. The only other thing the media were able to find out from the crew was that one of their deckhands had somehow returned to the ship on a helicopter. This deckhand was now missing, and when the media tried checking, there was no person in Japan, Zainichi Korean or otherwise, who went by the name of Han Youngjae.

Shinsou and Ryoko were too busy briefing Fujiwara to read the newspapers, but they later found out that the Supreme Leader, on learning about Ri Wonhong's press briefing, had immediately ordered his Bowibu Chief and Air Force Commander to be arrested and tried for treason. What Shinsou never learned was how successfully his plan had worked in the end. Ri and Jyeong, once they woke up, naturally declared that they had been brainwashed. As for the Mi-26 and Mi-24 pilots, they were unable to remember anything about the flights they had carried out.

On learning that the Kirogi had vanished during the night and hearing the news from Japan that the abductees had returned home, the Supreme Leader's first thought was that Wonsan must have been infiltrated by Japanese agents. But then, some American prisoners had also escaped. He couldn't put it past the Americans to have blown up the warehouse as well. After all, the United States didn't want the North Korean defence programme to proceed, either. But would the Americans have freed the Japanese abductees? The Port Master had given some folderol about the Supreme Leader himself having ordered the Kirogi to set sail in the middle of the night; this was blasphemy.

Wonsan was full of foreign journalists, and they had of course immediately sent reports of Ri and Jyeong's arrest and impending trial back to the newspaper offices in their countries. The Supreme Leader could not let it appear as if he had made a mistake, and that his two detained cadres might actually be innocent. Besides, he had been intending to purge the two of them for some time. And so he proceeded with the trial, and for the time being closed one eye to the conflicting and confusing pieces of evidence.

.

.

Before leaving Niigata City, Fujiwara had made a call to the Directorate, asking for an engraver to meet them at the rooftop garden later that day. The names of Nakajima, Kaneshiro and Watanabe were going to be inscribed on the memorial wall, and Fujiwara, seeing that Shinsou and Ryoko had been traumatized by the deaths of their colleagues, wanted them to be present during the engraving, thinking it would be a form of closure for them.

The rooftop garden was a peaceful haven after the madness of the past two days, and as Shinsou looked out over the Tokyo skyline, he found it unreal. Two days ago, he had been in Wonsan; and at this hour, everyone had still been alive. He wanted to believe that it had all been a bad dream.

Ryoko cried throughout the engraving, but Shinsou merely stood, staring numbly in front of him. Fujiwara had hoped that this might bring them some closure, but for Shinsou it did not. It was no comfort to see his colleagues' names being inscribed on the monument. He would have far preferred them to be alive and well instead. He looked at the Kanji; anyone else in the future who looked at the wall would see only that – mere words. But he had known and trained and worked with these men, and it was meaningless for him to see them reduced to lifeless characters on an inanimate wall.

He did not feel so badly over Nakajima and Watanabe, who were older and had lived full lives. Nakajima in particular had completed a successful career at the Directorate, and reconciled with his girlfriend and daughter at the end. It was Kaneshiro's death Shinsou could not come to terms with. He had been so young and so talented, and his two-year old son would never know his father now.

When the engraving was over, Ryoko mumbled her thanks to Fujiwara and excused herself, saying something about needing to write a letter. Shinsou was about to take his leave as well, but the Director-General said that he wanted a word with him.

"Tell me, young Shinsou," said Fujiwara quietly, fixing his fierce eagle's gaze on him, "where would you prefer to be posted to, now?"

Shinsou looked at him in astonishment. The Directorate had just lost three highly competent and experienced members of its North Korea-monitoring group. It could therefore ill afford to lose another operative … Shinsou had received intensive and highly specialised training during the past year – he had become fluent in Korean, he had become knowledgeable about North Korea, and had acquired experience operating there. With all this valuable training, it had been unthinkable that he would be posted elsewhere; he had expected to join Imamura's group, which included Tomonaga and Noriyuki.

"Yes," said Fujiwara, seeing his expression, "we've lost three valuable members of our North Korea team. But don't forget, Nakajima and Kaneshiro were actually monitoring Chongryon, here in Japan. There are several others in Imamura's group who could stand in for them for the time being. The urgency is less now, because Chongryon as an organisation today has lost a great deal of its former influence … its original objective was the repatriation of the Koreans in Japan to a unified Korea. After decades, that unification has never taken place, and the younger Zainichi Koreans here have seen the current situation in North Korea and no longer desire to migrate back there. Chongryon has therefore lost much of its relevance and is also in financial trouble. And the Shiramine will be decommissioned and is no longer an issue.

"With all the fine training you've received, it would make sense to keep you on the team. But your heart won't be in it, will it?"

Shinsou turned to look again at the stone wall where Kaneshiro's name had just been engraved.

"No, sir," he said. He had to admit, from what he'd heard of Imamura from Tomonaga, that he didn't really fancy the former's style or the thought of working under him. "If I had a choice, I'd like a break, perhaps work on some other cases for a while … it's too soon for me to go back to North Korea. I need a bit of time, to get over the shock of what has happened …"

Fujiwara gave a small sigh.

"You're still too young," he said, "You and Hirano … both hardly out of your teens. If you were more experienced and battle-hardened, this wouldn't have had so much of an impact on you. Very well, then … I'll find another supervisor for you for the time being, and we'll see how Tomonaga and Noriyuki shape up. If things don't go well, I might still have to post you back to the North Korea team in the future."

"Yes, sir," said Shinsou gratefully, "Thank you."

He took his leave of Fujiwara then, and went off to have a shower. He had just finished and had collapsed on his bed, when his cell phone rang. It was Ayumi.

Shinsou had sent her a message an hour earlier, just to inform her that his assignment was finally over. In his mind, he wanted some closure on their relationship. He had tried not to think about Yeonha while coming back on the Kirogi. He had told her to forget him and to start over, and he needed to put that relationship behind him. Now he just needed Ayumi to tell him that she was with someone else, and then he could move on. He hadn't expected her to respond so quickly, though.

He was dead tired, and told her he had only just gotten back from abroad, and that they could talk another time. But she said that she had already come over; she was downstairs, waiting outside the entrance of the Directorate.

Shinsou somehow dragged himself out of bed and went down to meet her. She cried the minute he appeared, and said that she'd missed him, and that she had already wanted to go steady on the day that they had broken up.

This was gratifying to hear, but he didn't have the energy to discuss it with her right then. She could see that he was exhausted, so she just asked him to come over to her apartment to spend the night, even if he was too tired to talk.

He didn't remember much except collapsing on her bed later and falling asleep. He woke up halfway through the night to find her curled up next to him, though, her face buried in his neck, so he just put his arms around her, and went back to sleep.

Fujiwara had told him and Ryoko to take the day off the next day, but his belongings were all on the top floor of the Directorate, and so he found himself making his way there the next morning, after seeing Ayumi off to work. He hadn't had time to read the newspapers or listen to the news, and so he was unprepared to find a crowd of people assembled outside the Directorate.

They were blocking the main entrance of the building, and after a few minutes he realised that they were journalists. They seemed to be trying to interview everyone who was going in and out, and one of them, seeing him, called out to him.

"You're Hitoshi Shinsou, aren't you? The brainwashing guy who appeared in the Sports Festival some years ago? You're working for the Directorate now?"

"Well then, that's you in the Shukan Shincho video, isn't it?" said another, before Shinsou could answer. "Did you just get back from North Korea?"

"What?" said Shinsou, looking at them in shock, "What video?"

"The one that Shukan Shincho posted on its website!" said the journalist, "Here, have a look." He handed his smartphone to Shinsou.

Shinsou stared at the phone in disbelief. Shukan Shincho was a tabloid. The video was dark and grainy, but it was undoubtedly him in the warehouse, brainwashing the guards. The video had been taken at close quarters, for he could even hear his voice giving instructions to the guards. It's impossible, he thought. It might have been dark, but he could have sworn that there hadn't been anyone standing nearby with a video camera at the time … unless … someone with a Quirk that could make things hover had set the camera running and stationed it in the shadows nearby …

Magnetron had had a video camera that could be controlled remotely. Had he put it up for sale online? Shinsou looked through the rest of the website, and saw that the tabloid had interviewed the owner of the video, who had wished to remain anonymous but claimed that agents from Japan had rescued the abductees, and had also blown up the warehouse and brainwashed North Korean officials into claiming responsibility for it.

"Lee," he thought furiously, "the traitorous bastard, I'm going to murder him!"

"That's you in the video," said the journalist, staring at him, "I can tell by the expression on your face!"

The other journalists promptly surged forward.

"Are you the deckhand whom everyone's been trying to locate?"

"So you were the one who blew up the warehouse? Did you brainwash Ri Wonhong into giving that press conference?"

"You rescued the abductees too, didn't you? Someone in the Coast Guard leaked information that two Directorate agents were on board the Shiramine. The cat girl is the other, isn't she?"

"Didn't you just graduate from Yuuei? That means that two youngsters pulled this whole thing off! It'll make fantastic headlines!"

"We heard that the Shiramine came back disguised as a ship called the Kirogi. How did that happen?"

They were pressing around Shinsou. "I've got to get away," he thought, desperately.

"Stop!" he said, angrily, "One question at a time!"

The journalists, however, continued firing questions. One by one, they became blank-faced and fell silent. After a while, the remaining unbrainwashed journalists realised what was happening, and looked at one another, nonplussed.

"Well?" said Shinsou casually, "Any more questions?"

The journalists were quiet.

"Let me through, then," said Shinsou, looking dangerous.

The brainwashed journalists obligingly stepped aside. Those who hadn't been brainwashed did not, however. They weren't able to question Shinsou, but they weren't about to let him get away, either.

Shinsou looked at the brainwashed journalists.

"Help me remove those journalists who are blocking my entry into the building."

The brainwashed journalists promptly went over and started pushing the others out of the way. The unbrainwashed ones of course resisted, and soon there was a full-blown fight in progress. Shinsou managed to push his way through the resulting chaos into the building.

He went up to room six on the eighteenth floor, looking for Ryoko. He was going to get Lee's whereabouts from her, and then roast him alive. But there was no need; the minute he opened the door, he saw Lee running across the room with Ryoko in hot pursuit, holding a frying pan.

"You stupid jerk!" she was screeching, "I'm going to hammer you to pieces!"

She stopped when she saw Shinsou, and lowered the frying pan.

"What's happening here?" asked Shinsou, in a deadly quiet voice.

Ryoko was looking agitated.

"I've just found out that this impostor isn't a Zainichi Korean at all!" she said, breathing heavily, "He's just told me that he's a Japanese freelance journalist called Fukushima on assignment for Tokyo Shimbun! He's been posing undercover as a ship's cook all this while because he wanted to cover a story on the Shiramine!"

"What?" said Shinsou, furiously. He came forward with a menacing look on his face, and Lee-Fukushima backed away. Shinsou grabbed him at the collar, and slammed him against the wall.

"You stupid bastard," he said through clenched teeth, "I went through all that trouble to make it appear as if the North Koreans themselves blew up the warehouse and freed the abductees, and you've ruined it!"

"Well, it was unfair!" said Lee-Fukushima defensively, "You did a hero's job, the both of you! Yes," – seeing Shinsou's expression – "I know what Jiyeon did, too! I saw the Supreme Leader leave the ship and saw her coming back in her cook's disguise! And I knew when Ri Wonhong gave that press conference that you made him do it! It was ingenious – I felt that you should get some credit!"

"We're supposed to do things undercover, you fool!" snarled Shinsou, incensed, "Now you've blown our cover, and you're going to affect ties between North Korea and Japan! You idiot, I'm going to kill you!"

He began shaking Lee in rage, but the journalist began talking very fast.

"Letmego," he said, "Our relations with the North Koreans are still the same. They're refusing to believe what the Japanese are saying. They're denouncing us as liars, saying that we're trying to take credit for the rescue in order to make ourselves look good. I brought the article along for you to read, if you don't believe me!"

Shinsou stopped shaking him. Ryoko went over to a folder that was lying on the floor, and picked it up.

"You mean this?" she said, opening it.

"Yes," said Lee-Fukushima, adjusting his glasses and trying to look dignified, and smoothing his clothes as Shinsou finally let go of him, "I was going to show it to you, but you picked up that frying pan that I bought you, and started hitting me with it."

Ryoko took one article out, but shook her head. It was from a North Korean newspaper, and her Korean wasn't good enough to read it. She handed it to Shinsou.

He skimmed through it, and then began translating it out loud for her.

"… _The dishonest and heinous Japanese scum are attempting to take advantage of the lies of the accursed traitor Ri Wonhong and pretend that abductees from Japan exist. They are trying to take credit for the release of the nonexistent abductees and blowing up of explosives in Wonsan in the DPRK ... This shows their embarrassment at being impotent in their attempts to salvage their national interest. They try to smear the shining reputation of Chongryon and find an excuse to decommission its ship by claiming that it is involved with the smuggling of goods and transport of abductees. The DPRK has taken care of the despicable traitors Ri Wonhong and Jeong Pyongchol with a sledgehammer blow. The slanderous lies told by the thrice cursed Japanese, puppets of the US imperialists, are an unpardonable and despicable action which has sinister motives to destabilize the DPRK …"_

"Look at that," said Shinsou, glaring at the newspaper clipping, "They're accusing us of sinister motives. None of this would have been published if you had kept your mouth shut!"

"But it's all standard rhetoric!" protested Lee, "They're always declaring even worse things about Japan! This is tame compared to what they usually say, which is that they want to sink the four islands of the Japanese archipelago into the sea using the nuclear bomb of Juche!"

"You did this for your own gain," said Shinsou severely, "don't pretend that you wanted to give me or Ryoko credit! How much did you get paid, for that video?"

"I _did_ do it for Ryoko and you!" protested Lee-Fukushima, "Her father's totally proud of her! Of course, I had an assignment to fulfil, too. But I could have made a great deal more money and fame out of all of it than I did. It's huge news, the rescue of the abductees, and I was the only reporter on site there and an eyewitness to it all, imagine that! Instead, I remained anonymous and sold the story to Shukan Shincho instead, which is a tabloid. They paid me much less than Tokyo Shimbun would have, and are less credible. People take tabloids less seriously, but the news still got out."

"Miaow, my father's proud because Fujiwara spoke to him about me, not because of the media attention," said Ryoko sternly, "you're a thrice-cursed traitor, as the North Koreans would say!"

"Don't be angry, sweetheart," said Lee coaxingly, "I'm quitting as a reporter, and giving it all up for you, aren't I? With the money from the story and my savings, we can buy that ryokan that you wanted!"

"What, you've already proposed, have you?" said Shinsou, frowning, as Ryoko handed him another newspaper clipping. It contained news of Ri and Jyeong's trial verdict.

.

 _Pyongyang, September 14 (KCNA) — Upon hearing the broadcast of the press conference given on September 12 by thrice-cursed traitor Ri Wonhong, a special military tribunal of the DPRK Ministry of State Security was held on September 13._

 _The accused Ri Wonhong and Jeong Pyongchol brought together undesirable forces and committed such hideous crimes as attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state._

 _Ri Wonhong and Jeong Pyongchol were appointed to responsible posts of the party and state thanks to the deep political trust of the Supreme Leaders. The benevolence shown by the peerlessly great men of Mt. Paektu were something they hardly deserved._

 _The hateful and despicable nature of the anti-party, anti-state and unpopular crimes committed by Ri Wonhong and Jeong Pyongchol were fully disclosed during the course of the trial conducted._

 _The tribunal confirmed that the state subversion attempted by the accused are crimes punishable by Article 60 of the DPRK Criminal Code, vehemently condemned them as wicked political careerists, tricksters and traitors for all ages in the name of the revolution and the people, and ruled that they would be sentenced to death according to it._

 _._

Shinsou almost found himself feeling guilty as he translated the article out loud.

"Miaow, don't feel guilty," said Ryoko, seeing his expression, "They were both due to be purged, anyway. It was just a matter of time."

"I suppose so," said Shinsou reluctantly, placing the clipping back into the folder. He decided that he didn't want to think about the issue any more. "What were you saying, Lee here has proposed to you?"

"Miaow, he hasn't," said Ryoko darkly, glaring at Lee-Fukushima.

"Beloved, I will soon," said Lee, brightening, "Come climb Mt Fuji with me!"

"How did you know about that?" said Ryoko, amazed. She looked at Shinsou. "You told him!"

"Would I do such a thing?" said Shinsou, looking noncommittal, "He thought of it himself!"

"I know you told him!" said Ryoko with conviction, "He's too stupid to think of it himself!" She glanced affectionately at Lee, who had a look of protest on his face. "I shall miss you," she said sentimentally to Shinsou, patting his shoulder.

"So, you're resigning, are you?" said Shinsou, not minding the patting.

"Yes," said Ryoko, looking pensively around, "It was almost hard to do it, this has all been such an adventure. Bungling old me will never do anything so exciting again. And yet I felt glad to, as well; I still feel so heartbroken over what has happened. It was really with mixed feelings that I handed the letter in to Fujiwara, yesterday."

"Well, it's good that you did," said Shinsou unkindly, "It's high time you left. You've inflicted enough disasters here, already."

"Miaow, you're so mean," said Ryoko, swatting at him as he ducked away, "You'll be coming for my wedding, won't you?"

"I suppose so," said Shinsou, grinning, "Don't trip on your gown, mind."

"And you'll visit my ryokan, once I've got it running," said Ryoko, ignoring his comment. She came forward, and gave him a hug.

"Of course I will, gladly," said Shinsou, deciding not to tease her further, and returning her hug.

He left the room, after shaking Lee's hand in anticipation of the upcoming successful proposal. He found himself reflecting that at least one positive thing seemed to be happening.

He was heading down the corridor toward the elevator, when he met Aizawa.

"Shinsou," the latter said, giving a small nod in acknowledgement.

Shinsou looked at him. It seemed like a lifetime ago, almost, when Aizawa had spoken with him, back in Yuuei. What would his life be like now if they had never had that conversation, he wondered. Would he have joined a hero agency? Being at the Directorate had changed him in ways that he wouldn't have imagined.

"I've been hearing about you in the news," commented Aizawa. There was almost a hint of amusement in his habitually tired face.

"I didn't know about it until just now," said Shinsou, wryly.

"Yes, I heard that Fujiwara has been keeping you busy," said Aizawa, "I would imagine you wouldn't have had time to look at a newspaper till today."

"Everyone in the Directorate knows, I suppose," said Shinsou, soberly.

"Not all the details," said Aizawa quietly, "I probably have a better picture, because Fujiwara spoke to me about it. But he isn't going to break the news about your two supervisors to anyone else. Agents sometimes don't survive their missions, and it's not the procedure here to broadcast it when it happens. He'll probably disclose that they have decided to retire quietly and move on to other positions elsewhere outside the Directorate."

He noticed Shinsou's expression, and said kindly, "It's not easy, especially this being your first assignment and all. They would have been proud of you, Shinsou."

Shinsou dug his hands into his pockets. He could feel Kaneshiro's whip in the right one.

He looked at Aizawa, perplexed.

"Fujiwara told you the details of what happened, when most of the others here don't know?" he said, "Why?"

"Because," Aizawa said, "you need a new supervisor."

Shinsou blinked. "You?"

"Correct," said Aizawa, "Not unwelcome news, I hope."

Shinsou was relieved. Although he had come to like and respect Nakajima in the end, he'd been hoping that his next supervisor would at least come with less emotional baggage and a more uncomplicated background. Moreover, Aizawa had been the one who had noticed Shinsou in Yuuei and seen the potential in his Quirk, and had him trained. It would be a huge consolation to have him as supervisor after the loss of Kaneshiro.

"No, of course not," he said, "I had hoped to be assigned to you when I first arrived, after all."

"You might want to take a few days off," said Aizawa, "You're looking more tired than you usually do, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Thanks, I think I will," said Shinsou, "but before that, I'd like permission to borrow one of the Directorate cars."

Aizawa looked surprised. "What for?"

Shinsou brought the whip out.

"There's still some unfinished business I feel I need to settle," he said, looking at it, "I want to go to Niigata City to see Kaneshiro's wife."

.

.

Shinsou didn't find his meeting with Kaneshiro's wife, Yumi, an easy one. She put up a brave front at first, but broke down and wept in the end. Her little son was with her, and he did look a great deal like his father.

Shinsou told Yumi that he had been with Kaneshiro when the end came, and that her husband had died a hero's death. He wanted to return the whip to her, but she had refused to take it.

"Keep it," she said, "He has spoken to me of you before. He gave it to you, he said 'take this', not 'return this to my family', didn't he?"

"Yes," said Shinsou, and glanced at the little boy, "but if he had been thinking more clearly, perhaps he might have wanted Reiji to have it."

"I don't know if Reiji will ever follow in his father's footsteps," said Yumi, also looking soberly at her son, "I won't stop him if he decides to, and perhaps you may give him the whip then. But in the meantime, I believe that it belongs in your keeping."

.

.

After taking his leave of Yumi, Shinsou still had one final place to stop by. It was a short drive to Ikarashi Beach from Kaneshiro's apartment. Beaches ran the length of Niigata City from just west of the Shinano River to the entrance of the Sekiya diversion channel, and from there to the mouth of the Shinkawa. Restaurants and beach houses could be found up to Terao Nishi, but west of that was Ikarashi, where there were no more buildings, only sand and surf.

It was a lonelier place, with grey-white sand and clear, greenish water. Sand dunes green with dune grass and purple flowers lay beyond the beach, and a forest of black pines further separated the area from the rest of the city.

Shinsou stood for a while, watching the waves rushing in onto the shore. There was no one else on the beach that evening, and a fresh wind was blowing in from the Sea of Japan. "Or East Sea," he reminded himself, as he looked out over the foam-capped waves.

To the west, the sun had turned into a luminous red ball, and was setting behind Sado Island. Shinsou turned to look, knowing at the back of his mind that Korea, too, lay in that direction, somewhere beyond the horizon.

He thought of all the times Kaneshiro must have stood where he was, as a boy, and gazed at that same scene. It was a restful place, and his heart suddenly felt lighter. Wherever his former mentor had gone now, Shinsou believed that he must have found the same peace.

A flock of gulls suddenly flew overhead, their shrill cries echoing across the lonely beach. Shinsou watched as they gradually disappeared over the horizon; he realised that he was still holding Kaneshiro's whip in his hand. "Fly high and higher," he said to himself, as he watched the now distant birds, until they eventually vanished. Glancing down at the whip, he then carefully placed it back in his pocket, and smiled.

.

.

. ~ THE END ~ .


End file.
